


Aim to Misbehave

by CrazyBoneLady



Series: Aim to Misbehave [7]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Ahamkara OC, Angst, Canon Divergence, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Morning Sex, Sexual Content, Shady Business, Smut, cayde-6 (mentioned) - Freeform, nine shenanigans, praxic rats, previous cayde-6/female guardian, the vanguard disapproves, what even are tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-02-10 05:34:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18653947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyBoneLady/pseuds/CrazyBoneLady
Summary: 8 years after Cayde's death in the Tangled Shore, Nevia, now known as Dredgen Thana, tries to find her way back into a world that just don't feels right anymore. Her decisions lead her down a path into the dark and with her close connection to the Drifter, there are always others at her heels.





	1. A new path

**Author's Note:**

> I started this story a while ago. It's very personal and deals with Nevia finding her way back into life after she has gone a bit crazy from losing Cayde. Drifter is her rock in the stormy sea and a way out of the pressure to be a good Guardian. 
> 
> This is a direct follow up to my One Shots from before. 
> 
> I will try to update this once or twice a week. No promises. ^^
> 
> If you have questions you can always talk to me on my Tumblr: Crazy-Bone-Lady

EDZ - Ruins of Stuttgart - 8 years Post Forsaken

~~

The Fallen did their best work in this former big city. Picked everything clean, nothing was left. Basements, large buildings, all completely scavenged. The good side with that was.. They were not here anymore. They moved on as soon as there was nothing left to steal for them and Nevia was grateful. She wasn’t here for any scrap metal, medicine or something. One of her contacts, another Hunter, had dropped a package off for her. She had acquired it on the Black Market in the Reef, far far away from the City’s policies. 

“What’s in that package anyway?” Her comm channels gave away a mild static as Drifter’s voice dropped in. She had asked him to stay on voice with her, so someone knew if anything happened to her. The huntress pushed herself through a crack in a crumbled wall, feeling her heart hammering against her chest from the tight space. 

“Something nice.”, was all she said as an answer, almost feeling out of breath. When had she gotten so claustrophobic? Maybe it was that day when almost a whole building came down on her, while she was digging up a strange Golden Age artifact in the ruins of the Ishtar Sink.

“Something nice or something ‘nice’.” She could hear the tease and amusement in his voice, it made her roll the bright blue eyes. 

“Pervert.” Nevia crawled underneath a half broken door frame and dropped down two floors into the basement. Her feet landing in a small puddle, creating a small splashing sound. Startled she looked around.. But nothing. Chia appeared next to her shoulder and lit up the flashlight, bathing the room in pale blue light. Ghost and Guardian flinched backwards, when they found themselves surrounded by skeletons. 

Chia scanned them for a moment and lowered her single optic. “Been dead a while. Probably happened during the collapse. They seemed to be hiding down here. See? There are old supply cans and everything.” It was a sad image. Nevia recognized several families, holding their children close. Thinking about how terrible the collapse was and that someone like Cayde remembered it, being haunted by these images until his death. She looked down onto her feet. 

“Ya alright there, Hot Shot?” 

Drifter’s voice ripped her out of her thoughts and she managed to shake off the brief wave of sorrow crawling into her head. “I’m fine. Fuckin’ sad.. Let’s get moving.” 

She made her way through the large basement to another, smaller room on the side. It was empty, except for a crate sitting on a table in the middle of the room. Her Ghost hovered over it, carefully regarding and scanning. “It’s the package Gelert left behind for you. The material.. curious.. must be from the Dreaming City. It’s certainly crafted by the Awoken. I thought you dislike the Awoken?” 

“You got yourself Awoken weaponry?” Drifter sounded far too excited about that. 

“No.” Nevia sighed and took a step forward. She reached down and grabbed her Hunter Knife, using it to force open the metal crate. “Gelert couldn’t pick a fucking worse place for this. He always hides the shit at the ass end of nowhere.” 

“His pretty face makes up for it.”, he offered helpfully. 

“Yeah.. sure. Pervert.” 

“You said that before.” 

She ignored him for a moment from then on and opened her ‘package’. Inside was, aside from various supplies, ammo and two bottles of very old russian Vodka, which Chia transmatted away quickly, a small device, almost looking like a bracelet. Nevia reached for it and held it at her wrist. Automatically it closed with a quiet ‘click’. “I was looking for a way to manifest my solar light better than just the throwing knives.. It’s not my style.. So I searched for someone, who could offer me a solution. And over a lot of contacts, mine and yours, the black market and so on.. I got my hands on this beauty..” 

“Do you think it works, like you want it to?” Curiously Chia hovered next to her hand, inspecting this new device. 

“Guess we’ll have to find out.” She raised her arm a little and looked at it. Nevia focussed on the light running through her veins. Solar energy rose from beneath her armor, surrounding her forearm, wrist and hand, gently dancing around her fingers. After a deep breath, she reached for Quickfang and clenched her hand around the grip. Her light latched onto the small device on her wrist and spread over the long, slender blade beneath. The soft glow turned into angry, more red coloured flames. 

A faint smile appeared on her lips, as she swirled her sword around. With one swift movement, she raised it and smashed it down onto the now empty metal crate.It fell apart, only an orange glowing cut in the middle. 

“Seems to be fine. Can’t know for sure, before I test it in the field.” 

“Now that is one fancy blade, my dear miss. Let’s cook some breakfast with that.” Drifter laughed over their comm channel. Nevia smirked and shook her head, letting her powers fade and returned Quickfang to her hip. A warm feeling spreading in her chest. Sometimes she forgot how fond she had grown of his presence. The warmth was quickly followed by a frozen stab of guilt. She shouldn’t, though, but she did. 

“So.. That’s done.. Time to get out of here and get to the Tower.. Woooh… Excitement..” 

“Ya only be there for a bit, picking up your stuff right?” She heard quiet ‘cling’ sounds from his side of the comm channel, knowing he was playing around with his coins again. The noise calmed her nerves. She often fell asleep to it. 

“Yeah. Trying not to run into anyone. Just taking some personal things to my ship and then I’m off again. It’s not like I want to return anytime soon. I also need some more clothes.” Nevia took the same path back, than before. Through the small corridor into the large room with all the skeletons. She climbed out of it and found herself now on the ground floor of the former hospital. A quick look around didn’t offer any direct means of leaving this place and she had to get out of here before Chia could actually transmat her. 

“Chia.. The grappling hook, please.” 

She held her hand out and her Ghost caused the requested tool to appear in her hand. She ignored the question, where this is suppose to go, because the huntress already started swirling the hook at the end of the rope and aimed for a broken piece of wall, two floors up. 

Nevia threw, but missed. It took her another two tries until the hook was actually secured between a crack in the wall. She pulled at the rope with all the power she had and it didn’t break down. “Alright.. Time to climb..”

“Y’know, I got another request from Spider asking to bring in more Wormspore. He’ll pay good.”, Drifter chatted away, while she fought herself up the rope. 

“Then… He should ask the person who gets all.. the stuff from the fucking Dreadnought…” She had a hard time talking between the heavy breaths and the strain of her muscles. Somewhere in the building the floor creaked and she held still for a moment, before pulling herself further up. These type of ruins were so dangerous, even for her as a Guardian. We unlucky and collapse with the building into a damn Hive nest or Fallen tunnel. 

On the second floor Nevia had to take a deep breath again, calming her heartbeat. Chia transmatted the grappling hook away and watched her Guardian, as she stood straight again and noticed a stairway a bit to the left of the room. She jogged upstairs three more floors to find herself on the roof, overlooking large parts of the city. The afternoon sun gave a warm light and made everything look to peaceful. In the distance she could hear a few birds singing. This was so different from the cold walls of the City. She loved the wilderness. She wanted to see more of it. There were so many planets out there.. in this system and beyond. It was, what made a hunter, right? To explore, scout new areas… At least she wanted to tell herself that she hadn’t forgotten Cayde’s legacy. 

“Transmat zone is to the east, right on top of the next building. You should be able to cross the street over the rooftops.”, Chia informed her hesitantly, not wanting to destroy her moment of quiet, but Nevia nodded in acknowledgement and moved again. 

“Careful, Little Dredgen. Structure’s doesn’t look so stable.” 

She made a small jump over a crack and stopped, smiling. “You worried about me?” 

“Heh. Never.”

The jump over to the other building was easy enough. Nevia had more troubles with jumping upwards than forward. Because of her height, she didn’t have as long legs as some other Hunters, not that it would ever stop her. 

“Transmat right ahead.”, her Ghost noted. 

“Time to go ho……” A loud crash underneath her basically ripped away her footing and the ground crumbled. With a startled scream Nevia went into free fall, crashing hard on her back in the middle of the remainings of the roof. “Ah, shit….” Pain coursed through her body.. Probably a few rips broken and her sight was all fuzzy. “Chia.. Help.. Can’t move.. Fuck that hurts.” Chia was already working her magic and started fixing her bones, healing her wounds. The dizziness in front of her eyes started to fade and she was able to sit up again, holding her head. 

“Told you to be careful.” Drifter’s voice was pretty sarcastic. 

“Shut up… Let’s just go home..”

“You fell only two floors. I’m still able to transmat you, if you want.” Chia hovered next to her, single optic watching her a bit weary. 

“Yeah.. Get me out of here. I got enough nature for one day.” 

~~

The Tower, Guardian Apartments Floor 132 - A bit later

~~

Her small apartment, where she moved after Cayde died, was almost barren now. Only the furniture and a few personal items. She left Coco, her beloved dog, with Shiro to scout the earth or play with the wolves in the Iron Temple. She had a good life, one that Nevia couldn’t offer her anymore. Colonel was entrusted to Hawthorne in caring hands. There was just her now and her place was not here. It was nothing more than a place that carried her name on it’s papers. 

She grabbed an empty sports bag hidden underneath the small bed and started to stuff the last of her clothes into it, scattered out on the sheets. Her eyes turned towards the wall above the bed. Various pictures decorated it, dust covering them lightly. She hadn’t been here in a long while.. 

Nevia reached for one of the pictures and brushed the dirt off of it. It was a selfie of her and Cayde after their first Crimson Days in the middle of a Crucible arena. Her heart clenched in pain. She missed him so much.. Even with her.. newly discovered relationship to the Drifter.. It really wasn’t that new, but she had no idea what to name it. She would always love Cayde. He respected that and it was another reason, why she felt so comfortable around him. 

She carefully stored this picture into the bag, picking up another. This one showed her and Siobhan in their favorite bar in the City. Another one of her, Coco, Shaxx and Sio. She was aware that she hurt her best friend.. She never wanted to, but returning here caused her almost physical pain. How should she ever stay again? If Siobhan ever needed her, Nevia would be there. Always. But her path was a different one now. 

“That all?” Chia appeared next to her and looked around. She seemed melancholic. Her poor Ghost. Always by her side, no matter what bullshit she got herself into. Sometimes she forgot that she also lost two dear friends and family members. Nevia gave her an affectionate nudge to the shell. 

“Yeah. Should we go?”

A nod from the small AI was all the answer she needed. She shouldered the sports bag and left the apartment, locking the door behind her. Nevia managed to slip by most people without being noticed. She had to make it down to the Annex to get back to her ship and off they went. Easy enough, at least she thought so. While she was hurrying along the bazaar she noticed Shaxx and Ikora talking to one another and the Warlock Vanguard of course noticed her the moment she passed by. The Crucible Handler turned towards Nevia. Her breath hitched and she returned their stare just for a second, then slowly shook her head and almost ran down the stairs towards the Annex. 

She walked by Drifter’s little corridor. He spotted her a second later and shot her a knowing smile, before he returned to talking to another Hunter right in front of him. She moved on then towards the transmat zone downstairs. As soon as her feet touched the circle, Chia got her out of the Tower and back onto her ship. The Queen of Hearts was hovering above the tower and her Ghost made it instantly leave as soon as Nevia was on board. 

Back in Orbit around Earth, Nevia sat in her pilot seat, staring out of the window at the colourful planet underneath. The ship itself was big enough to live in it. For her at least. Climbing into the back, deciding to change from her armor into some comfortable clothes. “Chia.. That wormspore shipment.. Did Drifter already send the details for it?” 

“He mailed you the informations earlier, while we were on the way back from Stuttgart. Spider requests 50 units of Wormspore and.. Oh boy. He’s paying very well.” Her Ghost hesitated for a moment. “Drifter set this payment to go to 100% on your account outside of the city.” 

“100%? What’s wrong with him?” She dropped her armor into the corner and stripped out of her sweaty clothes. “I need a bath.. or a hot shower..” 

“We should make a stop on Venus. The hot springs would do you some good.” 

“Good idea.. Let’s set this on the list for when we come back from the Dreadnought.. I really, really don’t want to run around in Hive goo all day.” The two exchanged a short, quiet laugh.

“Do you want me to contact the Derelict?” Originally Nevia just wanted to spend the rest of the evening by herself, but after finding all the pictures and just looking at Ikora and Shaxx.. She would rather not be alone. 

“Yeah.. Though.. Nah. Don’t do it. I think, Drifter is still busy with Gambit. Let’s just go. Maybe ping Daisuke and see where they’re at.” She finished undressing and slipped into her sweatpants, a tank top and over all that a overly wide, black hoodie with a basic white hunter symbol on it. 

“Daisuke transmitted coordinates. They’re also in Earth’s orbit. I’ll get us there. You can put your feet up.” 

Nevia smiled softly and leaned her forehead against Chia for a moment. She was eternally grateful for her loyal companion. 

As promised the Queen of Hearts left it’s current position and flew basically around half the planet. Nevia sat in her sleeping corner. It was filled with blankets and large pillows, a replacement for her bed, that she couldn’t fit in here, also a lot more cozy. She opened her holo pad and started quiet music, clearing her head a little and trying just to breath. 

The Derelict was silent with Drifter gone to the City. Probably not for long, since it was already later in the evening. Nevia reached into the front pocket of her hoodie and took out her cigarette, lighting one up and taking a drag. She walked along the catwalks, her feet freezing from the cold metal. Of course she came here without socks or shoes. What a rebel, she thought sarcastically about herself. 

She moved past the snowy, ice cold madness in the back to the cockpit up front. Nevia still wondered how could one be so unorganized, but she had learned to not question Drifter’s chaos. The space wasn’t big. It only offered enough to hold a small kitchen counter, his Gambit set up and the usual cockpit. Everything was held simple and very very old school, but she liked it. 

Nevia settled for making a can of coffee and enjoying the quiet for a while. She grabbed one of Drifter’s filthy novels from the small container that acted as his bedroom and workshop, dropping herself onto the old leather couch once she returned. Chia nuzzled into the curve of her neck and seemed to be powering down a little as well. A soft smile spread on the huntress’ face, while she started reading. This book was really terrible. Plot, what plot? Not that she minded. Her brain wasn’t capable of working through a long story. 

“Evenin’, Hot Shot. What you doin’ up here?” Drifter walked in only half an hour later, dropping his heavy coat and shoulderpads in the corner. He only got a short ‘Hm’ as a reply, since she was busy reading. “Thanks for the detailed description, I guess.” 

He noticed the freshly made coffee and poured himself and Nevia a cup, placing them on the wooden coffee table in front of her. Drifter took the book out of her hand and earned himself an annoyed glare. “I was reading that!”

“It’s crap and we both know it.” He sat down on the other end of the couch, watching her with curious eyes as if he was searching for any meaning to why she visited him without announcing herself. She never did. “You wanna tell me what’s up with you or you just gonna lay there and sulk? I mean, I’m fine with that, don’t mind me, though not good for your..” He tapped his own head with his finger. 

“Don’t wanna talk about it.. not now.” She sat up right and looked down at her hands. The meeting with Shaxx and Ikora, as short as it was, had shaken her and the memories stores in her apartment weren’t helping either. Nevia had tried so hard to forget the past, but there were things that always would come back to haunt her. 

“Fine. Your decision. But ya can come over here, so I don’t have to yell at ya and I tell you about what happened today in a Prime match.” 

She hesitated for a moment, watching him for any sign of a joke, but nothing. Nevia moved quickly, silently as she always was, settling down next to Drifter, laying her head down onto his lap. The leather of his chaps wasn’t exactly comfortable but it would do. And as if he knew how much it calmed her, he took out one of his jade coins and started playing with it. The quiet ‘cling’ putting her mind at ease. “So.. What happened today in prime?”

“There was this Collector, also a hunter, who got so mad at her one teammate, a Reaper, for constantly picking up her Motes that she just started unloading her machine gun on him. She was so PISSED, then she kept stabbing him in the back.. Didn’t win their match, though I saw that guy make a run for it once they left the arena. Was quite messed up.” 

Nevia smiled and snickered quietly. “This is why I prefer just stabbing things.”

“And you’re good at it.” He paused. “So.. about that shipment..”

“Yeah..” She snorted quietly, glancing up at him. “About that shipment.. I saw what you did there. No need to explain. I’ll do it. But you’re delivering it. It’s freakin’ dangerous on the Dreadnought. I expect a proper dinner when I’m back.” 

“Mhm… We’ll see about that.”


	2. Trust

The Queen of Hearts, Venus’ Orbit - 8 years Post-Forsaken

~~

Music was blasting through the jumpship in the late morning. Heavy guitar riffs and smashing drums making the ground beneath Nevia’s bare feet shake. She stood in the middle of the ship, stretching her limbs and trying to get the ache out of her back, which Chia still refused to heal, since it was her decision to sleep here. Dreams were haunting her mind every night she spent alone. After her first visit in the realm of the Nine, she hadn’t touched the Haul again. Her and Drifter also avoided speaking about her meeting with the Emissary. The image still clear in her mind. 

Nevia held out her hand and a black coffee mug transmatted directly into it. With a smile she took in the scent of freshly made life juice. Even with their disagreements sometimes, Chia was the best companion one could possibly have. 

Coffee empty and warm up done a bit later, she felt quite good about herself for once and started dancing and jumping around to the loud music. Just in panties and her sports bra, she screamed along with the lyrics, making her Ghost stare in disbelief. She was so busy, that she didn’t notice the faint blue shimmer in the front of her ship, as a transmat came in. Drifter appeared in the cockpit and instantly flinched at the overly loud music. Not that his own was more quiet, but it was still startling for a second. 

The Queen of Hearts wasn’t made for someone taller than Nevia. She had things stored in nets on the ceiling, something he had to realise soon. Once he took a step forward, trying to approach her, he crashed into a small crate with his forehead. The ‘CLONK’ from the collision was drowned by metal music, so were his curses. Nevia didn’t see any of this. She was busy dancing stupidly around, spinning in a circle. 

Though if one went too fast, one did lose balance.. So did she. She felt dizzy and lost her footing, falling backwards and she landed, not like she expected on the cold metal floor. No. She landed in a pair of arms, noticing this unique signature of light anywhere. Nevia froze.

“Whoa there, Quickfang, easy.” There was laughter in his voice as he let her get back to her own feet. She turned around and put both of her hands on her waist, eyeing him with suspicion. “Could’ve just told me that you wanna dance, if you could tell this wiggling around dancing.”

“Asshole.” There was no fire behind the insult, she was already smirking. “I like to inform you, that I’m a very good dancer.”

“Are you now?” He leaned casually against one of the large heavy ammo crates on the right side of her ship. “Proof it.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know? Maybe someday, I’ll show you.” She walked past him towards her cockpit, picking up a small bottle of water and taking a few gulps from it. “Wanna tell me why you’re here?” 

“Just wanted see if ya wanted to come with me to Venus to pick up a piece of Golden Age Tech in the Ishtar Sink.” He didn’t even tried to hide his wandering eyes. Wouldn’t she be so curious about his suggestion, she might have taken him up on that. 

“What’s in the Ishtar Sink?” 

“Y’know.. Old tech, stuff to tinker with my Gambit banks.” 

That didn’t seem quite convincing to her. She just had a run over the Dreadnought because of this stupid Wormspore shipment and now he wanted to drag her away again? She had her own bounties to run as well.. But.. She loved Venus. “Fine. Let me get set up and we can leave.” 

“You sure, you don’t wanna go like this?” She turned at him with two raised eyebrows only to be met by a teasing smirk. Nevia rolled her eyes and asked her Ghost to just transmat her armor directly onto her body. Usually she preferred to get dressed herself but she wouldn’t struggle with all the ties in front of him. 

A moment later she was bathed in blue shine and reappeared with her armor fully settled. She checked the buckles on her Ahamkara bones and reloaded her weapons, Thorn resting heavily in her hand. Drifter eyed the weapon with suspicion. Always had. She couldn’t say she was entirely comfortable with the way he looked at it, but things turned out how they were now and it worked well. She still carried Malfeasance on her other thigh. 

The Ace of Spades was locked away underneath her pilot seat. She rarely touched it only on days when she painfully missed Cayde. 

She moved back into the cockpit, pushing past Drifter and sitting down at the front, starting up the engine of her jumpship. “I’ll get us down there. We can use my sparrow to navigate.” Drifter met her with silence and Nevia turned around, seeing a slightly uncomfortable expression on his face. She knew he didn’t like these small jumpships. Nah, he would be fine. “Might wanna sit down.” 

Once he followed her advice, she shot him a short smirk and accelerate, until the Queen of Hearts shot forward. she flew her ship in a long curve, tilting it strongly to the side, making Drifter dig his hand into the seat. He wasn’t saying anything, but probably screaming on the inside. With far too much speed they descended onto the surface of Venus, Nevia navigating through the cliffs and jungles with ease. She knew this planet well from her times on patrol. 

The landing zone was only one big drop ahead. She pushed the Queen of Hearts to the max, flying directly above the ground with a crazy grin on her face. They shot over the edge of the cliff, staying in the still air just for a small second and then the jumpship leaned forward and dropped. 

Wildly laughing, she just let everything fall in a steep drop. Her coffee mug shattered on the back of the cargo space, once she caught their fall again shortly above ground, slowing down to reach the landing zone. 

Both of them transmatted out and Nevia was hyped on adrenaline, checking her weapons while smiling to herself. A side glance to the Drifter showed her that he wasn’t feeling the same thing. Did he look a bit pale or was she just imagining things? Chia was so nice and dropped her sparrow right in front of him. She wanted to climb on the driver seat, but Drifter grabbed her wrist and shook his head. “I’m driving. You are crazy, woman. I’m not letting you drive again.” 

“Scared?” She teased him openly, pulling at his headband and letting it snap back. 

He didn’t answer her though, just climbed onto her sparrow and put his hands on his thighs, watching her. Nevia smirked and had to admit that he looked kind of sexy sitting on her sparrow. She took a few steps forward and slipped onto the vehicle in front of him.

“What’cha smiling at, little Dredgen?” 

Nevia wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself a bit closer to him and let her actions speak for her. Her fingers pushed into his black hair at the back of his head, slipping under the green headband. There were no questions on her mind about if this sparrow would still stand, when they actually would start making out on here… She started lightly biting at his neck, causing a low chuckle to rumble in his throat. One of his arms wrapped around her, the other was still holding on. 

Greedy she rolled her hips against him, forcing a groan from his lips. This turned out to be a fatal action, since he let go of the Sparrow and now had both arms around her. The slender vehicle beneath them started to get wonky and eventually fell, taking both Lightbearers with it. They were lucky that the landing zone was only on a small hill, not a giant cliff. With a startled shriek Nevia only saw the world spinning around and with a splashing sound she landed in a flat pond. The cool water clearing up her senses and from above she only heard a hearty laugh. 

For some reason and however he managed, Drifter had saved himself and was sitting on the hill, looking down at her. “Got ya coolin’ off now, huh?” 

“Fuck you!” She reached for a stone in the pond and threw it at him, he caught it with ease though. 

“Maybe later. Get up and let’s go now. No time for baths.” 

Grumbling she jumped to her feet and shook herself like an annoyed cat. Drifter jogged down to her side and turned the sparrow back onto it’s proper position, climbing back on the driver seat. This time Nevia settled behind him, an arm around his middle. 

“Let’s try not to fall off this time.” 

They shared a short laugh and then Drifter started the Sparrow again. They drove away from the landing zone, over a crumbled street into the ruins of the Ishtar Sink. The jungle was not as close here and the old remnants of human civilization surrounded them. This whole system once had been their home, theirs to protect. They had failed and now.. over 1500 years after the collapse.. It was still nothing but a battlefield. 

Nevia leaned to the side, as they were driving. The wind pleasantly brushed over her face. It was a good choice to leave her helmet in the ship. She reached out, while they hovered over a small lake, letting her fingertips brush through the water. Venus was a beautiful place. One of the few she would regret leaving behind when they left the system some day. 

They made their way up to a mountain, overlooking the city ruins. Drifter stopped the Sparrow when they reached the top and jumped off, Nevia followed quickly. Chia transmatted the vehicle away and left them alone. He sat down in the grass, elbows on his knees. His dark green coat spread out behind him. For a moment his eyes seemed far away. All the charm, sass and quick witt was gone from his expression. She would like to see this side more often, knowing well he did his best to hide it. 

“So…” She dropped down next to him. “There’s no artifact, is there?” He laughed quietly and shook his head. Nevia felt a bit confused, not understanding why he would drag her out here, if there was nothing for them to grab. 

“Nah.. There’s not. Brought ya here because of somethin’ else.” 

Nevia pulled out her Hunter knife and started playing with it. She tried to figure out by herself what’s been going on. “Why then?” Drifter talk to me.” 

“Ya shouldn’t be involved with the Nine. They’re bastards who try to play ants with us. Y’know? Try to figure us out. But they can’t. They’re using Or… The Emissary to do so. Same as her tentacle faced friend.” 

“Xur?”

“Yeah, that guy.” He gave an exhausted, almost annoyed sigh. “I’m trying to keep ya away from all of it.” 

“Hard to ignore psychos invading your dreams and thoughts as they damn well please.” Nightmares had been haunting her everytime she slept alone and it were not the usual ones from the Moon or Cayde’s death. It was different. “I’m dreaming of wide, icy wastelands with weird structures. Her voice keeps talking to me.. I don’t get what they want with me.”

“Because you and me.. We freaks in regards to our other fellow Lightbearers. We’re not up for being locked up behind walls. Balancing between light and dark and all that poetic nonsense. Ya can’t give in to that, little Dredgen. It’s dangerous.” 

She watched him then, not sure how to put his words into her own thoughts. He was scared, she noticed. Scared of the Nine, of the consequences of this deal and maybe of something else as well. Nevia didn’t really dare to assume to know his mind. Nobody probably did. “They offer truths, you know. About you.. The Light. Maybe even the Darkness.” She paused, meeting his gaze. He was growing distant again, pulling back into himself in a manner of self protection. “Drifter.. I don’t want any of those.”

“What is it ya want then?” 

She turned her eyes away from him, not able to look at him while laying mind and heart so bare before a man like him. Nevia always had issues with talking about her emotions or feelings. She felt saddened by her own memories. What did she want? That was the big question and maybe something, that needed to be said? “To belong somewhere again. Not thinking about what had been. That some deep shit, right?”

He laughed at that and shook his head. “Right. But I get’cha meaning. Not a bad thing to want. Not sure ya’ll find it here, though.” 

“I’m not so sure about that.”

They sat in companionable silence then, watching over the jungles and ruins with a certain ease to them. At least on the outside. In Nevia’s head questions were still racing. After what happened on the Moon and the consequences it carried with. She refused to be a slave to any higher power ever again. Not the Hive, not the Nine, the Vanguard or even the City. She was a person, Drifter had told her that years ago and she did as he asked. She never forgot that simple fact. 

The last time she let it slip, she lost Cayde. For good. 

The thought of her deceased husband made her heart clench from pain. It had been years and the memory still haunted her, hurt her every time her mind wandered towards it. She wanted to allow herself to move on. Cayde wouldn’t want her to be unhappy forever.. But if he would be so pleased with the bath she had taken? She doubted it. 

“Five pieces of Glimmer for yer thoughts?”, Drifter caught her off guard and Nevia stared at him for a while. 

“Only five?” 

He didn’t answer, just waited for her to tell him what was bothering her head. Was it even worth to tell him? The thing with Drifter was.. Their relationship was built on mutual trust in regards of business at least, but personal? She knew a lot about him others didn’t, that was sure, but did he really care for what was burdening her heart? This was another thing entirely. 

“Just thinkin’... nothing else.” She gave him a weary smile. 

“Whatever you say, little Dredgen.” 

~~

The Nine left her alone that night. Instead she was haunted by memories and woke up in the early hours of the morning, soaked in sweat, heart racing and distressed. Nevia sat up and looked around, trying to get some sense of orientation. She was surrounded by all types of junk, a few bookshelves and empty cans of food. 

She knew this room. The Derelict. Out of pure instinct she turned to her side to find Drifter sleeping there, quietly snoring. Though he seemed to be waking up at her sudden movements. “What’s wrong…?” He mumbled into the pillow, voice rough and heavy from sleep. 

“Nothing.. just.. nightmares.” 

“Hm.. Fine.” Without asking he pulled her back down. Waking up next to someone again was weird, for both of them, but not unpleasant. Nevia settled back down, her body still trembling from the terrors of the night. Drifter said nothing. What could he possibly say? He just let her cry into his chest. 

It was enough for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will be updating once or twice a week. That depends on how fast I can write :)


	3. Belts & Guns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW for the first part.

Mornings on the Derelict were always silent. The only thing that could be heard was the gentle humming of the portal in the back of the ship. Nevia was already up and going. She drank two cups of coffee without even to wait for it to cool down and then returned to the small container which Drifter called his bedroom, sitting down on the desk and started to tinker with a Pulse Rifle lying in front of her. 

She hadn’t spent a night on her ship since they returned from Venus. Over the days, yes, when she was either out running bounties or seeking out her contacts to organize yet another business deal. But sleep came easy when he was resting next to her. Her dreams were empty, no voices, no visions. Nevia wasn’t sure, if she could say the same about Drifter. She had heard him quite a few times during the nights, suffering from nightmares. 

Nevia wasn’t exactly the most talented person in comforting others, so she left him be. He would speak up, if he ever wished to talk about..anything really. There was never a point in asking him questions or forcing him to say something. He only ever offered his story when he was ready for it. 

She turned around to find the man in question sleeping on his makeshift bed. He was on his back, one arm behind his head, the other draped over his bare stomach. Her eyes wandered along the lines of the snake tattoo curling around his arm. A smirk formed on her lips and she got up from the small chair. She reached for the belt hanging over the side of the desk. Drifter was a very deep sleeper, if he felt safe enough apparently. For example when they were hovering in earth’s orbit or at the edges of the system,outside of everyone’s reach. 

Moving over to the side of the bed, as carefully as possible, she moved his arms towards the metal pole on the right corner of the bed. Only moving everything slightly and slowly, she tied the belt around his wrists and bound it to the pole, a devilish smirk on her lips, when he didn’t even stirr from his sleep. 

Nevia undressed herself, slipping out of the over sized shirt and panties. Patiently, while waiting for him to wake up, she lit up a cigarette and grabbed her tool to sharpen her knife. Carefully, she climbed onto the bed and kneeled over his waist, lowering herself on top of the sleeping bag. She stirred for a moment, but didn’t open his eyes. She took a drag from her cigarette, blew out the smoke and let it rest between her lips, as she started sharpening the edge of her knife, eyes never leaving Drifter, who slowly fought his way out of a deep sleep. 

She took her time, taking care of her weapon, while his eyelids slowly lifted themselves and he looked at her with a hazy expression, sleep still heavy on his mind. Nevia just returned his gaze unmoved. “That a view… I hope this is going where I think it’s going, little Dredgen.” Only then he realized his bound wrists and tried to pull his hands free without success. “Huh.. In a mood, are we?” 

She smirked. “Maybe.” 

“Ya gonna leave me like that?”

“Maybe.”, Nevia repeated, leaning back and pressing out her cigarette on the ashtray, standing on the desk. She put her knife and sharpening tool down next to it. “Thought you would look very nice tied up.” 

“That so?” He just smirked right back at her. Sly bastard. She leaned down, resting her forearms on his chest and started nipping at his neck, pulling a low groan from his lips. Nevia rolled her hips against him, pressing her teeth into his shoulder, biting down. “Shit..” She grinned against his skin and looked up, pushing herself up onto her knees and pulling the upper part of his sleeping bag away, revealing him pretty naked underneath. 

She didn’t remember him going to sleep last night. Hmm.. “Did you have any intentions when you went to sleep naked last night?” 

“Heh. Nope.” 

He was lying. She knew. 

Nevia shifted a bit on top of him, stroked his length a few times with her free hand. Drifter moaned out loud. She loved that sound and so she did it again. He was already pulling at the belt, that was holding his hands in place. “Aw, you wanna move? Not happening.” 

He let out a hoarse laugh and shook his head, looking up onto the ceiling of the small container. “Evil woman.” He repeated those two words again, when she shifted and lowered herself on him in one smooth movement. She sighed out and her eyes fluttered shut just for a moment. Then she just sat still, humming lowly to herself, while she reached over to her package of cigarettes again, picking one out and lit it up. The look of disbelief on Drifter’s face was too good. 

She grinned at him and leaned down to kiss him, feeling him growing restless beneath her. “I don’t like it, when you taste like smoke..”, he mumbled against her lips. 

Nevia raised an eyebrow and sat up again, causing him to shift inside her and she moaned quietly, before taking another drag. “I don’t like it when you taste like Hive.” And with that she slowly started moving her hips, cutting of their easy banter, but still smoking her cigarette. Even if he never used it, she could feel his light brushing against hers. Rough and chaotic. She took her time for a little while longer, before dropping her cigarette into the ashtray and placing her hands on his chest, fingers running through the dark curls on his skin. 

He only chuckled and shook his head. “Fair enough.. Gonna keep teasing a bit longer? Might wanna make breakfast then.” 

Nevia frowned and rolled her hips, forcing a gasp from him. “I could leave you here like this. How about that?” She would never just go up and leave, because that wouldn’t benefit her and he probably knew that as well, so all she got was a smirk. Asshole. However, Nevia grew impatient herself, so she started to actually move now, pushing herself up with her knees and sinking back down again. Drifter met every single movement eagerly with a thrust of his own. Her long fingernails digged into his chest and she pulled them down violently, leaving angry red marks in their wake, bleeding a little bit on a few parts. Drifter didn’t mind. Daisuke could always heal it, if he so wished. Too overwhelmed by the feeling of power she had over him in this moment, it didn’t take Nevia long to reach her release, her head falling back with a cry, once more thankful that they were on the Derelict and no one was around. 

Drifter cursed underneath her, pulling at his restraints. He was close. She could see his muscles tense, a faint cover of sweat building on his forehead and upper body. He came with a sound that was similar to a growl. Nevia waited for him to relax into his bed, before she left him to clean herself up.

She felt terribly sticky and didn’t even bother to untie him, before leaving the small container, stepping out into the cold, causing a slight shock for her overheated skin. 

After cleaning herself up and pouring them both a cup of coffee, she returned to Drifter, who was looking at her quite displeased. Nevia smiled softly and stepped up next to the makeshift bed, pulling loose the belt and a second later, she found herself on her back, him hovering above her and frowning down at her. She peaked her tongue out at him and laughed quietly. 

“Are ya done now with torturing me for the day?” There was no bite behind his question and mischief danced through his eyes. She reached for the necklace hanging from his neck and pulled him down. 

“You like it.” Nevia smirked and bit him lightly into his lower lip. 

“That I do.” 

They shared a short, soft moment, exchanged a few light kisses. Rare for them, but they both slowly got used to it. Eventually Drifter climbed off the bed and stretched his arms, leaving Nevia to admire his backside, which she did. 

Breakfast went as usual, when she spent her night here on his ship. They ate something quickly made and talked about the upcoming day, the set up for the Gambit matches, bounties Nevia had to run or requests that would come in eventually from their contacts. She was just up to pour herself another cup of coffee, when Chia appeared by her side, followed by Daisuke. She looked at both Ghosts with a questioning gaze. “What’s wrong, you two?” 

“We’ve been receiving a encrypted message..” Chia paused, exchanging a glance with Daisuke. “We tried to backwards track it, but couldn’t find where it was coming from.. Nevia.. It’s a concerning message.” 

“Let me see it then?” She frowned and leaned against the kitchen counter. 

“I.. I don’t know.”

“Chia.. Come on. How bad can it be?” She smiled gently and poked her Ghost playfully against the shell, while Daisuke cuddled himself into the front pocket of her hoodie. Nevia looked down and fought down the wave of pain rushing through her heart. Sundance and Chia used to cuddle there all the time. 

The small device around her wrist pinged and she opened up a holo screen. The message was encrypted and it literally took both Ghosts to figure out the meaning. Quietly she read over it, her heart started hammering. They were investigating Cayde’s death? Again? It’s been years… The Praxic Order… She knew these people. They’ve been up in their business for a while now, ruined quite a few deals. 

“We got it. It got sent by a Warlock named Aunor. One of Ikora’s hidden, too? Did she set her up to this?” Chia’s shell wildly moved in irritation. 

“I don’t think so.”, she mumbled quietly. “Let me finish reading this..”

Her heart broke a bit more with every sentence she finished. She held her hand to her mouth and suppressed a desperate sob. Her eyes went to Malfeasance, resting on the far end of the kitchen counter next to Thorn and her Hunter Knife. 

“Nevia.. Nevia look at us!”, Chia called out, Daisuke not in her pocket anymore but hovering next to the other Ghost. The huntress lifted her tear filled gaze. 

“Drifter had something to do with this?” 

“It’s the Praxic Order, Nevia, you believe that?” Her Ghost was distressed, fearing that her already heartbroken Guardian would do something stupid. And she did not disappoint. Nevia grabbed Malfeasance and reloaded the hand cannon. 

“She provided proof, Chia. He’s in on this?! He is just as guilty as the rest of’em! Transmat my gear. Now!” 

Chia flinched but did, as she was told. A moment later Nevia was fully dressed in her armor. She didn’t think twice, the ‘proof’ in this message was enough to set her mind in a blind rage. She never had been able to actually work through her husband’s death. She had drowned herself first in blood, then in work and now in shady business and the company of Drifter. He meant a lot to her, but that wouldn’t stop her. A deep feeling of betrayal settled into every nerve of her body. 

“Please see some sense, Nevia!” Both Ghosts tried to stop her. Daisuke went off and vanished, probably going to warn Drifter that she was on a warpath. Grief violently tugged at her, making her see red. She almost ran over the catwalks on the inside of the Derelict, back into the large room with the portal, past it and to the freezer he calls home. Drifter was sitting at his desk, hands clenched to fists, Daisuke bumping against his shoulder. 

“Tell me she’s lying.” Nevia’s hand was shaking, as she raises Malfeasance, the gun they both built together, up and aims for his head. “Tell me she’s lying!”

“Guess I should’ve known they would catch up to us eventually, huh? Listen..” He turned around and lifted his hands a little in a poor attempt to calm her down. “.. She’s talkin’ shit. You believe this crap?” 

“She sent proof, Drifter. Proof.” 

“Assumptions. There is no proof in that and you know it.” He got up from his chair, making her raise the weapon a little more, barely able to holding it steady. “Will you think just for a damn second.” 

“You can’t.. I trusted you! This is Cayde we’re talking about!” 

“And you still can trust me! This praxic rat is trying to cause trouble. Nothing else, why would I do any of this? We’re partners, little Dredgen, in more way than once, come on.” He approached her slowly and her resolve was breaking. 

“Don’t you ‘Little Dredgen’ me. Stop trying to talk me into some shit. If you’re involved in this.. You’re just as guilty as these fucking Barons.” 

He stared at her for a long moment. “You wanna shoot me? Then go for it. If you rather believe this rat than me. If you don’t wanna shoot.. Get the hell off my ship.” 

She wouldn’t be able to shoot him point blank in the face, even if she would? There wouldn’t be any good in it. He would just come back. She didn’t want him to die or anything. She just wanted answers. What was the meaning behind all this? Why the long wait? What was Drifter’s role in all this? It made her head hurt. Nevia lowered her gun and turned around without another word. He shouldn’t see the tears streaming down her cheeks. It was none of his business. Confusion settled into her right next to the betrayal. She didn’t know what to believe anymore. 

Chia transmatted her to her own ship and Nevia left the Derelict. Heart shattered. Again.


	4. Cold on Ice

Earth’s Orbit - 8 years Post-Forsaken

~~

The ‘Queen of Hearts’ was approaching the landing zone in Trostland. From above Nevia could already see Devrim’s clocktower, overlooking large parts of the valley around him. She had been on her way to Europa, when she got a message from Siobhan to meet her. Seemed urgent, so the huntress didn’t delay any further and made her way to Earth. The EDZ was private enough for them and outside of the City. Dev wouldn’t bother them. 

The two Hunters didn’t see each other as often, as Nevia would like, but with their seperate paths and fate treating none of them kindly, it was bound to happen. That didn’t change anything about her loyalty to Siobhan, though. 

With Drifter she hadn’t spoken for two weeks now after their fallout on the Derelict. She felt sorry now for her behaviour, but the evidence provided by Aunor and her grief burdened heart got the better of her. Nevia wasn’t sure how to approach him now, so she stayed away. Hid in her work and ran bounties for various people. Spider had made some cryptic hints. That she should be watching herself and careful who she stumbled upon. The Fallen crime boss irritated her to no end. 

Her ship stopped shortly above ground in Trostland and Chia transmatted her Guardian out into the open. At least she wouldn’t need a helmet here. The air was fresh and the sun was shining. The beautiful day made her smile for just a quick moment. 

“There, there. What rare visitor we have!” Devrim’s voice dropped onto her comm channel and Chia hovered next to her, offering her a chance to actually answer the man in the clock tower. Nevia held her hand up to shield herself from the sun and be able to make out the sniper scope at the top of the tower. 

“Sio wanted to meet me here. Can you tell her to find me at the top of the salt mines?”

“You are not stopping for tea?” His voice sounded a bit amused, even she smiled a little brighter than before, while reloading her weapon. The salt mines were still full of Fallen, but at least they could talk in peace up there. 

“No. I have business to do. Sorry, Dev.” Thorn and Malfeasance rested at each of her thighs again, Quickfang hanging from her waist and the Ahamkara bones, as usual, covered by the half of her cloak. “Will you let Sio know where I am, then?” 

“Yes, yes. Of course. Take care of yourself, Nevia.”

She hesitated for a moment, not used to being called by this name anymore. Drifter never addressed her by name, only in dire situations and everyone else called her by her title ‘Dredgen Thana’. “Sure. See ya, Dev.” She summoned her sparrow and drove past most of the fallen until she arrived at the entrance of the mines. 

“What do you think Sio wants?”, Chia asked over the telepathic bond between Ghost and Guardian, while Nevia made her way through the salt mines, trying to avoid as many Fallen as possible. 

“I don’t know… She made it sound very urgent and she didn’t want to speak on comms, so we will just have to see..” She set foot on the small transmat device and vanished in a shine of blue, reappearing on top of the mines, where the sun was just setting behind the hills in the distance. She looked over the landscape, reaching into one of her pockets, taking out a package of cigarettes and lighting one up. 

“Since your..argument with Drifter.. you’ve been distant, Nevia.” Her Ghost appeared next to her, looking quite worried. “You know what I think about him.. but.. He helped with.. you know.” 

“Chia.”, Nevia replied in a warning tone.

“Yes?” She seemed unsure about how to approach her anymore. The relationship between the two of them had suffered a great deal, since Nevia left the path of the Light. While Chia still supported her wherever she could, she didn’t approve of it. 

“Stop it.” The words came out harsher than intended, making the small Ai shift away and vanish in the end. But instead of apologizing, Nevia just kept smoking, staring out into the wilds, letting her thoughts wander off. She was running on very little sleep and a lot of caffeine. The nightmares and visions kept her often up or ripped her out of slumber, leaving her groggy and overtired. The days alone had been driving her pretty much crazy, but there was no way she would return to the Tower and even declined the offer to spend some nights with Aine and Saladin at the Iron Temple. 

She noticed a ship flying by and shortly after in a bright shine , her best friend set foot onto the grass a few steps away from her. Siobhan smiled lightly at her, but seemed tense. Something was up. The two women shared a short hug, they hadn’t seen each other for a while. “You look like shit.” The first words of her friend made Nevia almost laugh.

“Thanks. I’m trying.” She dropped her cigarette to the ground and stepped on it for a moment. “So, what was so urgent?” 

Siobhan seemed to search for the correct words, crossing her arms over her chest. “I came to warn you..” 

That needed to sink in for a moment. 

“Warn me?” 

“Technically you and.. Drifter. Shin Malphur has been seen and he seems busy.. killed a Titan somewhere further up north. I know you told me about the deal Drifter has with him. He is breaking it and I’m worried about you.” Aside from the Shin part Nevia had heard this line too often to not roll her eyes. 

“If Shin wants to come after our ass, he can expect an ass wooping.” Nevia leaned against a rusty metal pole and kept her bright eyes trained on her friend. It wasn’t that simple, of course, she was aware. 

“Please take this serious, Nevia. Even Yvette is worried by now. Shin lied to her for centuries.” 

“Lied about?” 

“That he is Dredgen Vale!” 

Well that was a bomb Sio just dropped on her. Nevia stared for a while into nothingness. She didn’t know. Drifter never mentioned it. Always just calling him ‘The man with the Golden Gun’. Could he be after Drifter for that reason? Because he ditched the Shadows? The clockworks in her head were working hard and tried to not jump to any suspicions. 

“Your Drifter didn’t tell you, huh?”

“They suspect him to have something to do with Cayde’s murder..” She just kept looking at the horizon, the trees in the distant.

“Listen, you know how I feel about this guy. I don’t trust him, but I don’t believe he has anything to do with that. Why would be be this close to you if he had something to do with Cayde’s death?” 

Siobhan was right and Nevia knew it, but the whole thing just stung too badly. She was clinging to any information that Cayde might have not died just by being at the wrong place during the wrong time. Her hands started to shake and she reached into her pockets to light up another cigarette, taking a long drag and breathed out smoke. “I gotta tell him. If Shin Malphur is creeping around.. He’s in danger.”

There was something unsaid between them and they both knew it. Nevia and Sio always could communicate without words. It said ‘You are too.’ 

“I will not let anything happen to you, Nevia. You’re not alone.” 

She shook her head at the other huntress. “I’m not going back to the Tower. There is no place for me there. If you or Yvette see anything or have any infos.. contact me, alright? I’ll go and see Drifter..This is gonna be awkward.” 

Her friend looked at her in question.

“I pointed a gun at him….”  
~~

“He’s not gonna be happy to see you.” Chia hovered next to her, when she transmatted Nevia onto the Derelict. Her single optic quickly moving, as if in distress, over her Guardian’s face.

“I know. This is more important than a fight, though.. And.. Maybe I want to apologize. He didn’t deserve my shit at this point.. He has secrets like all of us and he does, what he needs to survive, but that’s no reason to treat him like this.” Nevia hesitated in her steps for a moment and looked to the left to the portal leading over to the Haul. She hadn’t had a single night of proper sleep and she was tired, her mind was tired. A tired and weak mind easily fell prey to powers outside of one’s reach. 

Anxiety was creeping up her nerves and with shaky legs, she moved along the catwalks on the Derelict, while the cold air bit into her skin. Had it always been so freezing? Through the small corridor onto the icy hall with the container posing as workshop and bedroom. Drifter sat at the desk, tinkering with a rifle and focussed on his work. There was no way he hadn’t noticed her arrival. 

And he did.

“Came here to finish the job, Dredgen?” His voice was so cold. There was nothing playful in it and Nevia just hoped she could make this right again. She had to admit on being a bit scared of him just summoning a Taken to take her on.. She had seen him do it without any effort. 

“No… That’s not why I came.” She approached him carefully, only hesitating for a moment when he spun around on his small chair, looking at her. He seemed as tired, as she was. The past weeks had taken their toll on both of them, or so she believed. “I’m sorry.. For what I did.. and said.” 

That caught his attention and he raised an eyebrow at her, for once silent, letting her continue. A good sign. At least she wouldn’t have to deal with any Taken. But instead of talking, she struggled with her words. She was never good with them, failing at the most simple things. 

“Y’know.. I know too how it’s to lose someone close to ya. But you suspected me. What happened to trust?” 

“Kinda fucked that up, huh?” She sat down on the edge of the desk. “I’m sorry..” 

He just snorted and shook his head for a moment. “Anythin’ else why you’re here?” He didn’t accept her apology, but she expected as much. At least it was out there and she had it off her chest. 

“Siobhan contacted me today.” She reached into her pocket and lit up a cigarette shortly after, leaning her back against the cool wall of the container, looking at the book shelves across. “Shin Malphur has been sighted in the EDZ…”

“The Man with the Golden Gun, huh? He made ya any problems? Seems like he broke our deal. Figures.” He put his tools down onto the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “Aside from that he’s not supposed to be here, what else is new?” 

“He is on the loose, Drifter. You’re in danger.” 

“And again.. What else is new?” 

Nevia tilted her head slightly to the side and observed his behaviour. There was a slight change to it. A tension in his jaw and muscles. He was scared, she knew. “I told ya before, we just gotta get our shots in. Heh.” 

“Drifter…” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Daisuke appeared next to Drifter, his shell wildly shifting as if he was trying to say something. The single, red optic moved in pure distress. 

“Calm down, Ghost.”, Drifter grunted in disapproval.

Nevia approached the mute Ghost carefully and cupped her hands around his shell, giving him some time to gather his senses again. “It’s alright, Daisuke. Calm down. Nothing is happening, see? We’re just talking.” But he shook his whole body and looked at her. “No? Something else?” 

Something was going on. They could never catch a break, could they? 

Chia poked up next to her, looking back and forth between her Guardian and Daisuke. “Daisuke caught the signature of an old Guardian ship approaching the Derelict.” Drifter and Nevia exchanged a quick glance and both of them got up at the same time, their argument and differences pushed aside, as they both jogged to the front part of the ship. 

Drifter threw himself into the pilot seat and navigated over the old touch screen. Nevia looked over his shoulder but wasn’t really able to make out what all these symbols meant. With another tab he opened a long list, searching for something. “Here we go… Ghost, can ya get through that firewall?” 

Daisuke nodded and with a red beam, he projected onto the console, started to work. 

“What are they doing?”, Chia asked unsure about the situation. Nevia was at a loss as well. She could tinker with weapons and tech by now, but this was far beyond her knowledge. She had a guess, but kept quiet. 

Drifter stopped typing after only a few minutes and stared at the holo screen. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. Daisuke vanished and he turned around to the huntress behind him. “Better get your weapons ready, little Dredgen. We got a visitor..” 

She instantly reached for Thorn and looked at the screen, tension everywhere in her body. “What do you mean, Drifter? Spill it.” But he was silent, just stared into the direction of the back of his ship, getting up from his chair. Daisuke transmatted a few Motes into his hand and for the first time since she knew him, he actually drew his gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit behind with my writing, since the past week wasn't so great. I won't be posting part 5 until I finished part 6 so it will be a few days. Thank you for all the Kudos and clicks <3
> 
> Siobhan belongs to SeigePhoenix


	5. Fire

Nevia wasn’t sure what to say, when Drifter just didn’t reply to her question. He just moved past her, his hand clenching around the gun in it. He moved carefully towards the door that separated the front with cockpit and living space from the back including bed/work container, the transmat zone and the portal towards the Haul. 

“Will you tell me what’s going on?” She reached for his arm with her free hand and stopped him in his tracks. Drifter turned his gaze towards her with a deep frown on his forehead. He looked serious and tense but in his eyes Nevia believed to see something like a decent amount of pure panic. If he would just talk to her.. 

“You got your gun?” He completely ignored her question.

“Yeah..?” She swirled Thorn around her finger and then got a proper hold of it again. Drifter didn’t like that weapon. She knew that he had one of his own many years ago.This was of course not the original, more of a replica she crafted herself with some help. If they had an unwelcome visitor, she would rather not take any chances and use exactly this gun to fend them off. Thorn itself was pretty intimidating towards other Guardians.. most at least. 

“Good.. Ya’ll need it. Remember what I told ya about gettin’ our shots in?” 

That was when realisation dropped on her like a ton of bricks. Her heart picked up it’s pace and she could feel Chia working in her system, trying to calm her down. Fear ripped cold claws into her mind and she pressed herself against the cool wall of the Derelict, trying to center herself. 

“Breathe, little Dredgen. Can’t have ya passin’ out.” He gently pushed the door open and peaked around the corner. From here they could see a blue shine coming from the hall in the back of the ship. “Stay here, I’ll deal with it.” 

“The hell you won’t. You think, I’m just gonna sit here. No way.” She reached for her waist and pulled Quickfang into her free hand, ready to bath it in Solar light if needed. She hadn’t exactly tested it in proper combat yet, only running bounties and smaller missions, but this would have to do. It was the best way for her to defend herself.. If one could defend themselves against their new visitor. 

“Maybe we can sneak about.. makin’ it to the transmat zone.” 

“We cannot outrun him! He’s here because of one of us. How does he even know where you’re parked?” Nevia crouched down and moved silently around the corner, constantly keeping her eyes on the catwalks and only peaking into the direction of the container to the left. Drifter was close behind her, she could hear his breathing over the humming of the Derelict’s engine. 

“Can’t tell ya.. Let’s go.” He sure wanted to have no discussion with her right now, not that she blamed him for it, but she had to calm her nerves somehow. 

“I know you’re in here, old friend. Drifter or whatever you call yourself now.” Nevia flinched upon hearing Shin’s voice coming from the big all in the back. She had heard it before, while she was hunting down the informations about Callum in the Ascendant Plane. But.. why did he address Drifter as an old friend? As far as she knew, they were mortal enemies. Because they both used to be Dredgens? Maybe? Or it was nothing but a taunt to provoke the other Lightbearer. 

“I’ll talk to him. You stay out of sight.” He pushed her lightly back into cover and got up to his feet. If she wouldn’t be so afraid for her own life, she would have run right out there.. maybe she still should. He could never take down Shin Malphur alone.. She broke his trust once, she wouldn’t let him down again. 

For the moment, however, she waited, listened in as the two men spoke.. hopefully without shooting. Nevia watched Drifter vanish along the catwalks and her heart stuttered. She heard his heavy footsteps slowly getting more quiet.. Her hand clenched around the grip of Thorn and if it wasn’t so sturdy, it would probably break. Solar light was singing in her veins, begging to be set free. 

“Whaddya want, Malphur?” Drifter’s voice was pretty loud, ringing through the halls, clear for her to hear. He sounded to serious and sure of himself, a hint of arrogance in his words. Typical. Always hiding how he truly feels. Might be better in a situation like this, though..

“Little bird whispered me that you have a rogue Guardian on your ship.” So Shin knew of her.. Someone told him.. She probably had to cut ties with her contacts now. One of them talked. 

“No idea, what ya mean, man.” Drifter.. That was such a bad lie.. You can do better..

“Nevia Vanan, known as Dredgen Thana. Your right hand. Hunter. Cayde-6’s widow. Business partner.. Smuggler, information dealer? Ring any bells?” She knew he would come for her sooner or later, unless someone put him in the ground. Thorn shivered with the shaking of her hand, as she tried to even out her breath. 

Drifter didn’t reply at first. She wasn’t sure, what the two of them were doing, but she wouldn’t let him fight her battles. Though it was cracked at the moment, their trust was mutual. So she took another breath and stepped out of her hiding spot, slowly moving along the catwalks, following the voices of the two men. 

“You leave her be. She has nothin’ to do with ya.” And even after all he still defended her… And he said, he was a monster.. If one would ask her? There was only one monster on this ship right now. 

“She’s though why I’m here. Not you. Don’t flatter yourself.” 

Before Drifter was able to reply, Nevia stepped out of the shadows, the metal let her steps sounding through the hall. Her free hand rested on Quickfang’s grip, tied to her waist, it left it’s former spot though to lay gently on Drifter’s arm. keeping him from saying anything for the moment. Her eyes narrowed as she looked Shin Malphur, a man she only knew from legends. “I’m here. What do you want? Put a bullet in me and my ghost?” 

“That was the desired outcome, yes.” The hand cannon in his hand was not the Last Word. She knew from Siobhan that Yvette had taken the weapon from him years ago. It was almost an exact copy from her own weapon. Thorn, the cursed gun. Probably one of his own creations. 

“I don’t have much to spare for hypocrites and liars, who think they stand above all things and are allowed to decide who lives and who dies.” She dropped her own Thorn to the ground with a loud, clattering sound that made Drifter next to her flinch just a little bit. Nevia reached for Quickfang and swirled it in her hand for a moment. 

“You want to put up a fight, false Dredgen? You’re welcome to try.” 

“Nothin’ like that!” Drifter grabbed Nevia’s arm, trying to keep her here. “You can’t win this fight.” They made eye contact then for a second and there was nothing but blank worry in his gaze, hidden behind his hardened face. This had been a mistake on his part. Now Shin knew how close they were and could easily play themselves out against one another or using one to hurt the other. 

She wouldn’t let that happen. This world had done enough to him. She had done enough to him. Another breath and she ran forward, dodging two of Shin’s bullets, sliding over the ground and trying to hit him with her blade. How smart of her to literally bring a knife to a gunfight. She parried one of his attempts to stab her and managed to kick his legs away from him. With a swift jump, however he was back on his feet. 

A gunshot startled both hunters. Drifter made use of his gun and aimed for Shin. The legendary Gunslinger narrowed his eyes and jumped away, up onto one of the higher catwalks, getting some distance to them. Nevia was instantly after him, fully aware that this might be her last fight, but she had a plan. If there was one thing she had learned from Drifter and her work with him over these past years, it was always to have a backup plan. 

The two rogue Lightbearers chased Shin through the back of Drifter’s ship, dodging bullets here and there. Nevia once fell from one of the paths, crashing down onto the hard ground. Surely broke herself some bones and Chia had to fix everything up while Drifter was distracting Malphur with gunshots. 

“Chia.”

Her Ghost turned towards the huntress with a quick optic, looking at her in question. 

“If I fall.. you have to go. Take the portal to the Haul, hide until he is gone. I won’t discuss this. I need you to be save.” She held her Ghost in both hands, terribly worried. 

“But.. but.. What about them?” She turned her single optic towards Drifter, who fought Shin relentlessly. 

“You have to be safe. We will manage. Please, Chia.” Nevia frantically looked over to the two men, Drifter just throwing a swift kick to Shin’s face with a speed and elegance, she didn’t expect. 

“I.. I... “ She struggled with words. The small Ai shivered. “Alright..”

“Good. Go hide. Somewhere up in the rafters.” She let her Ghost go then, feeling like a piece of her heart going with her, but she didn’t have a choice. She needed Chia to be safe. Now to the task at hand again. She ran out of her hiding spot into the open and looked up at Shin. 

Quickfang wouldn’t do the trick this time, he was too far away. Nevia grabbed Malfeasance, strapped to her other thigh and aimed for him, firing a Taken bullet right at him but it missed only by a few inches. At least it drew his attention away from Drifter and he jumped into the air, landing pretty close and she could feel the Solar power roaring around him. That could only mean one thing. 

Bright light lit up the whole area, fire enveloping Shin’s hand as he aimed his Golden Gun right at her head. A short breath and her own Solar light grabbed for the device at her wrist, spread over Quickfang’s blade and just in time she managed to deflect the bullet into the ceiling, though the force knocked her back a little. Her heart was racing and she couldn’t hide the panic on her face anymore. 

He was still aiming at her, but hadn’t fired his second shot. She slowly moved around him, circling back so she could at least attempt to regroup with Drifter. When she reached his side, she was able to take a short look at him, finding him pretty beaten up and could make out at least 2 gun wounds ruining his coat. 

“Are we done? See this as the final warning to turn your back on the Darkness and return to your place in the light.” Shin looked pretty much deadpan at the two of them. Nevia, though, ever the rebel heart, stood her ground and held the sword, bathed in flamed, in front of her to deflect another bullet if needed. 

Time seemed to slow down as Drifter and Nevia just stared at Shin, who pointed his gun at her with determination. A cold shiver of dread ran down her spine and she resisted the urge to grab Drifter’s hand to ground herself in the present. 

Shin’s gaze never wavered, as Solar power charged up again and enveloped his hand. He was getting ready for another shot and she was ready to deflect it again if needed. Drifter next to her had his gun in his hand, aiming back at the other man. She noticed that he reached into one of his pockets. In that moment, Nevia knew what he was planning to do, but he was not fast enough. 

The Golden Gun charged up and the second before Shin pulled the trigger, she saw his gaze shift. Just a tiny bit to her right. He wasn’t aiming for her. The realisation let her veins turn into ice. Everything around her slowed down. The burning bullet unleashed, flying towards Drifter, not her. Her muscles moved by themselves and with a loud cry of ‘No!’ she jumped in front of him. 

The bullet hit her directly into the chest and the force of the collision threw her back against Drifter, both of them falling to the ground. Breathing was impossible. The Solar light burned through her heart and lungs and everything she could do, was wildly coughing, trying to get a hold of the situation but her body was already slipping. Her vision turned blurry and she could only make out vague shapes. 

Drifter had jumped to his feet, she could see gun fire and that he swirled a mote in his hand, nothing more. A ear piercing scream, not his though. Her brain didn’t catch up with who it was. A Primeval? Shin Malphur? She couldn’t tell.. Blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth onto the cold metal floor beneath. Shit, dying like this was painful. She preferred a straight shot to the head. 

From across the hall Chia saw her Guardian fall to the ground, covered in flames of Solar fire she died a slow death. Her Ghost knew, but she wouldn’t go against her wishes. The distressed, small Ai turned and while Drifter had summoned a huge Taken Knight, that threw Shin across the room, Chia just vanished into the portal that led over to the Haul, hiding so she could save Nevia later. 

From the huntress’ eyes, the world got dark. A small smile formed on her bloody lips. She had saved his life. She had saved a life. It was everything that mattered now. Not the arms that wrapped around her a few minutes later, not the desperate calls of her name, nothing. She had broken Drifter’s trust, but at least she was able to save him. 

~~

When she opened her eyes she was at the Tower. An empty tower. Nevia looked down at herself and noticed that she was wearing her old armor, before she became Dredgen. Her bright blue eyes examined her surroundings, but found no one. Only then she noticed that the sky of the city seemed wrong. It was daylight.. but night at the same time. Stars covered everything, there was no sun. 

“That went pretty much south, huh, babe?” 

That voice. Her heart stopped and she swirled around, eyes wide. Cayde leaned casually against the railing, swirling his Ace of Spades in the same manner he always did. Nevia cried out and started running towards him, but stopped only a few feet away. Her teary smile fell. 

“You’re not real.” It was not a question, just pointing out of a fact. 

“Of course I’m not real. I’m six feet under.” He approached her slowly and reached out to cup her face into his gloved hands. “But you’re not.” 

She couldn’t answer, just started crying and wrapped her arms around the illusion that was her deceased husband. Nevia lost the track of time of how long she cried into the leather of his chest armor. She listened to the familiar sounds of his inner workings, closing her eyes. “I miss you..” 

“Oh, I know. Can’t have you freakin’ out every time though, babe. There are worse things to come and you know it, he knows it. You felt it, didn’t ya?” She leaned back to look into his blue optics, trying to search for a hint of anything off about what he just said. This was not her Cayde. Her Cayde was dead and buried. “I’m sorry, I can’t be with ya when shit goes down.” 

“It’s alright..” Nevia stepped out of his embrace. “You can drop this shitshow, whoever you are..Just.. let him rest, please.” 

And as soon as she finished that sentence, she world around her crumbled into pieces. The illusion vanished and left behind a wide, empty room of nothing but stars and terror. Darkness took over her again and the last thing she remembered was the stare of soulless, unforgiving eyes.


	6. The Beast's Lair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will have to slow down the updating schedule a little, since I'm quite busy. I'll try to keep up once a week, though! Thanks for all your comments, kudos and clicks <3 It keeps me going.

It was early afternoon in the Annex and Drifter was busy overseeing his last scheduled Gambit match for the day. Or so he should. Actually his mind was far away, while he was playing with his jade coin. It took the edge of his nerves, keeping his fingers busy. He wouldn’t let anyone see it, but since the incident on the Derelict with Malphur, he was extremely tense, only doing the most needed commentary in the match that was playing out on the holo screen in front of him. Nothing special.. Went pretty smoothly so far. The teams pretty much failed in communication but nothing new. 

He checked his messages again for the (felt) millionth time today, cursing himself for doing so. Still nothing. Nevia had vanished from the face of the earth shortly after her Ghost revived her. She didn’t seem like herself since then.. Naturally.. A confrontation with Shin Malphur had everyone shaken up, even himself. 

Seeing her die was.. Well, another memory he had to store in the ‘Never touch again’ archive. 

After they had their little fallout two weeks prior, he thought he saw the last of her. But as usual the little huntress surprised him, where he thought she couldn’t anymore. She took a bullet for him. A Golden Gun bullet and that without any hesitation. Maybe, some time, ge could actually forgive her accusing him of murdering her dead husband. 

Drifter let out a frustrated growl and tossed his coin into one of the pots standing to his left. “Well done, everyone, come on back.”, were his last words to the participants of the match on his screen. He was about to close it, when there was a quiet ‘ping’ from his inbox. A message from Nevia’s Ghost? 

He frowned and opened it. There was nothing but coordinates in the message. Why would she send him coordinates, when she didn’t want to see him? “Ghost, tell me where these are.” 

His mute Ghost started running them through his system and a few moments later a image opened on his holopad. A picture of the moon Europa and a red dot from the location of the coordinates. An abandoned Golden Age city. He knew what was on Europa. Nevia’s so called ‘Ahamkara friend.’ She had trusted him to not go and slaughter the beast, once he had the chance. No idea what the remains of an Ahamkara were worth on the black market, but certainly a good amount. He could say bye bye to this shithole of a system. 

But she trusted him with this information and so much more and he decided not to abuse it. 

Aside from all this.. Europa was territory of the Nine and if she went there, sharing the same visions he had, it would not end good for her. “Ghost, get me back to the Derelict. I’m done here for today.” He didn’t pay any mind to lock the doors in the front. It wasn’t like anybody could access the Gambit bank behind him either way. 

Drifter walked out onto the corridor and over to the transmat zone in the Annex. Before any of those Guardians running around could catch sight of him, he vanished into blue shine and found himself again on the Derelict. A quick look around and he sighed. The damage that had been caused during the fight with Shin had only been partly repaired. There were still bullet holes and scorch marks everywhere. He rubbed a hand over his face, chasing away the images from that day and moved on, over the catwalks to the front of the ship, pushing the heavy metal door open. 

He passed by the livingspace without further notice and dropped into the pilot seat. Drifter stared for a moment on the screens for a moment until his Ghost hovered next to him. The single, red optic looking over his face. “The coordinates, Ghost.”

The small Ai projected them onto the board and he copied them quickly over the keys on the console. The Derelict was an old long range ship of his own creation. It took her a moment to heat up the engine and actually activate everything. 

He left Earth’s orbit then, moving towards Europa on the far edges of the system. It took him hours upon hours, but eventually Jupiter and it’s moons came into view. An icy hellhole only reminding him of the one, where he was stuck with his crew for such a long time until they started to kill each other, if not taken by the cold beforehand. 

“Y’know if the planet is save to breathe on?”, he asked his ghost while looking out of the cockpit window. His answer was only a silent nod and a small stare. “Don’t ya look at me like that. We’re not discussing that.” He lightly pushed his Ghost aside, taking a last look on Europa, before gearing himself up and heading down. 

~

“Freakin’ hellhole. Save to breathe but so cold it freezes the air in yer lungs.” He lifted his hand to cover his eyes from the storm and could look forward a little more. The abandoned city was not far ahead actually. His Ghost aimed the transmat pretty well. The coordinates mark an ancient skyscraper down the snowed in path. A path? No one should have been here for ages. Could only be Nevia. 

He felt watch since he sat foot on this moon. His Ghost would have warned him if the huntress was near, but she wasn’t. Other eyes were on him. A cold shiver ran down his spine and that one came not from the horrible weather of this place. 

A movement on the far side of the road caught his attention. Was there something vanishing between the old buildings? “Fuckin’ hate this place.. If she ever wants to hide somewhere again, I’ll tell her to choose the damn Bahamas.” He snorted. “Europa of all places… That your scaly friend watchin’ me, little Dredgen?” Even if he addressed Nevia, he was asking no one really.

He pushed himself through a crack in the wall of the large building, finally out of the wind. With a bit shaky hands, Drifter brushed off snow from his coat. He was somewhere between the 24th and 25th floor, the rest underground. Time to take the stairs…

Ten levels below he found himself in a big hall with some destroyed display cases. Drifter crouched down in front of one, looking closely at the small device inside of it, which was probably broken but maybe he could pull some unknown Golden Age tech out of it. “Ghost, transmat to the Derelict. And while yer at it.. take the rest of the stuff here, too. Might get somethin’ useful outta it.”

He got back to his feet and looked for the next exit. This place was creepy. Drifter had seen a lot of ruins of the Golden Age, none of them were exactly comfortable but this one took the crown. 

“You shouldn’t be here.” 

He turned around towards the voice from the other end of the hall. In the shadow stood a female figure in armor, Titan armor, watching him carefully out of bright, awoken eyes. He knew this person, or at least used to and the image left his heart painfully clenching. She wasn’t real. It was just a trick of his mind and probably an Ahamkara, who messed with it. Damn, he hated it when people messed with his head. 

“Get the hell out of my head!”, he snapped at the image of Orin, approaching him slowly, but with confidence. It was a perfect copy, too perfect. “Not here for this bullshit of yours.” 

“Why did you come then? You have no business here, Wu Ming.” 

He hadn’t heard that name in a long time and pulled a face like it would cause him physical pain. The past was something he didn’t like dwelling on and names had so little meaning. There was no point for him to carry one anymore. Drifter made a disgusted noise and turned around to walk further down the stairs, paying no mind to Orin/Ahamkara. 

Two floors down he found an exit leading to the other side of the building, which had been hidden from the front. Maybe he could make some progress there. If the Ahamkara was here, Nevia couldn’t be far. If she would let him past to the huntress was another question. 

In the distance he saw a light. It instantly caught his attention and Drifter shielded his eyes against the icy wind. There was indeed light in one of the smaller buildings up the street. This was seemed mostly intact. So he started to approach, slowly because the storm was giving him a hard time and silently he wished he had dressed up warmer. He hated the cold..

A deep growl startled him. He turned around a few times but the storm and the snow blinded his sight. 

“Go away, Seeker of Dark! Leave! Your memories are witness to your crimes!” 

Orin’s distorted voice was directly in his head and Drifter covered his ears. It was of no use of course. The fake voice of his former friend overlapped with the one of the Ahamkara’s. He wasn’t able to pay attention to the bright blue, reptilian eyes that approached him from the side, moving over the snowed in buildings. 

“Get outta my damn head.”, he snarled and tried to shake it off. He pushed onwards, towards the light in the distance. The weather on this planet was merciless. That also explained the icicles standing horizontal against the buildings. Stupid storms on this stupid moon. 

Such thoughts were meaningless, but they kept him on track. He couldn’t listen to the presence constantly poking his mind and followed by the deep growl, he tried to ignore. 

A loud crash in front of him made Drifter almost fall backwards from the shockwave and for the first few moments all he could see were two piercing, big eyes looking at him, two rows of dangerously sharp teeth. He lifted up his hands in a defensive gesture, eyes wide and mouth open in shock. 

He had never seen a living Ahamkara before, even around the time of the Great Hunt he was too busy with his own things and now he regretted this. In front of him, growling and threatening, was one of the legendary wish dragons. Ice Blue and white scales covered her slender build form. He couldn’t make out any wings, but Ahamkara were shapeshifters. Nothing surprising about that. This was probably the original form. A majestic sight.

“Easy, girl. Not here to hurt anyone.”, he tried to approach the roaring beast. 

“Your presence is not welcome here, scared little man.” The voice was still a copy of Orin’s and in his head. The dragon communicated with him over this connection, since her physical form didn’t speak. “You stink of fear and betrayal.There is only pain and death hidden in your memories, Seeker of Dark. Leave.”

“Nice to meet ya, too. You Nevia’s scaly friend, huh?” Hiding his fear with big talk. Good choice. “Mind tellin’ me where to find her?” 

“You’re unsuitable. You shall not know.” 

That made him laugh and he crossed his arms over his chest. Not the first time someone called him that.. or worse. It was a bit ironic that even the most vile and disapproved creature in the universe even thought him as unsuitable to keep the little Dredgen’s company. 

When the Ahamkara was about to take another step forward towards him, probably with the intention to attack, her intention was drawn away and Drifter also followed her gaze. The hostile stance of the dragon faded and she relaxed visibly. A shadow moved from the light in the back into the storm. It took him another moment to actually identify Nevia making her way through the storm, using her Ahamkara friend as a windshield. 

“Sorry.. She’s protective.” Nevia looked not a little bit sorry. Observing her appearance revealed her only to be very exhausted and tired. Did she sleep at all, since she was gone? “You following me around now?” 

“Ya just vanished up after we both got shot to hell, of course I wanna know what’s goin’ on. Can we just talk without..” He gestured wildly towards the Dragon, still baring her teeth at him. 

They made their way into Nevia’s hideout then. A room in the small building he had seen in the back, when he set foot out into the storm the second time. Nothing special here. Just a cot for her to sleep on, light, a few maps and books and documents apparently to keep track of her contacts. Surprising she was still working even in a Traveler forsaken place like this one. 

“It’s alright, Yre. We’ll be fine. Go do..whatever you do.” Nevia stopped for a second, as if she was hearing an answer. It gave him the creeps, so Drifter just stared at her, until she finished her little internal conversation with that freaky dragon outside. She dropped down onto her cot. “Wanna tell me why you’re here?” 

He leaned against the wall next to her ‘bed’ and looked out of the window into the storm, where Yre was vanishing in the white. “Ya don’t know, Hot Shot? Getting slow in the cold weather?” He snorted and shook his head. Unbelievable that woman sometimes. “Ya got shot. I thought ya were like.. done for. Yerr Ghost was nowhere to be seen. Got me a fuckin’ heartattack. I’m too old for this.” 

She looked at the floor in front of her and he could practically see the clockworks working in her head. Nevia was sometimes so bad with words, he knew, so he decided to take over again. “Ya don’t get to take a bullet for ol’ me two weeks after ya accused me of murder, kid.” 

“I’m sorry.. for all that.. I don’t know what else to tell you.” She pulled her knees to her chest, looking quite miserable. Against his better judgement he felt himself giving in to her apology, shaking his head to snap out of it. His trust wasn’t easily earned and quickly destroyed. No matter how fond he was of this little firecracker. 

“No need to tell me anythin’. At least not about that, but I do have a question for ya.” 

“Shoot.”, she simply said, leaning back against the wall, arms behind her head and eyes closed. 

“I know that your ‘little’ friend out there has been around for a while, but ya always failed to tell me how that happened.” 

Nevia reached into her pockets and pulled out a package with cigarettes, lighting up one. He noticed that she had been smoking a lot more these days than earlier. Maybe it was just pure habit or it was stress. If he had to place a bet he would go with the latter. “Followed rumors here, that there are still Ahamkara alive on Europa.. When I got here, I noticed that I was followed. By a wolf. There are no wolves here. Well.. Turned out it was Yre, who shapeshifted. I came to make a wish.” She took a long drag. “Wanted Cayde back. Was shortly after he died. Thankfully, Yre is good hearted.. She refused and asked me to do something for her instead..” 

He sat down next to her on the cot, keeping his distance. He wouldn’t want to give the wrong impression but standing around was certainly uncomfortable after a while. He did enough of that in the Annex.. Thinking off… 

“I went to the Dreaming City for her. Turned out that the Ahamkara imprisoned by the Bitch Queen was her last remaining child. Riven, kept like a pet and corrupted by the Taken. Put her out of her misery and Yre offered me new bones for my gauntlet. Uncorrupted this time. I took it, even if she didn’t fulfill my wish. I come here ever since. Makin’ sure no Guardian comes here.” 

“Hm.. makes more sense now..” He crossed his arms over his chest. “But can we leave now? This place is giving me the creeps.” 

“You.. want me to come with you?” She frowned deeply at him and he resisted the urge to facepalm. 

“Look, little Dredgen. Ya wanna stay on this icy rock? Yer welcome to try but I’m offerin’ you a warm place on my couch and a cup of coffee. And take out pizza.” A small smirk appeared on his lips as he gave her a side glance, waiting for her answer. Pizza was not his favorite type of food, he preferred more.. unusual things, but it was hers. 

The moment he was finished talking, a white creature jumped into the door. A white wolf with piercing blue eyes. Drifter exchanged looks with it, her?, and the wolf started growling. Of course Yre would take a form of a wolf, still keeping an eye on Nevia. 

“You can’t tag along, Yre. Why would you want that?”, she poke to her and they were having a silent conversation over the mental connection again. “Hm.. Fair enough..” 

“Fair enough? She is not tagging along.”, Drifter protested. He wouldn’t let an Ahamkara on his ship. Never. How would that even go? This couldn’t work out. Nope. Not happening. 

“She’s going to settle down in the Haul. It’s big enough, icy and almost home without the threat of Guardians trying to kill her. I know things haven’t been good between us, Drifter, but.. She means a lot to me.. It would keep her safe.” 

Drifter looked at Nevia for a long time, fighting an inner battle between wanting to mend things with her and not wanting to jeopardize his deal with the Nine. The Nine were a lot more dangerous than normal Guardians.. but.. At least they could keep an eye on her then and Nevia wouldn’t run off anymore to get herself killed for good. “Fine…”


	7. Here to stay

Nevia wasn’t entirely sure, why he had come for her. His motives were always a mystery, hidden and well kept. The storm outside of her little hideout had grown, so much that even Yre found shelter within in, while shapeshifted into the form of a white wolf. She was resting by her feet, always keeping an eye on him. She really didn’t like him. For some reason this made her smirk and she had to hold back a chuckle. 

Her mood died quickly afterwards, while she thought that they were still at odds. The guilt of her accusations still heavy on her shoulders. By now she couldn’t stand the thought anymore. What was she thinking? Nevia looked at the wolf, laying by her side. Yre was looking at her with her bright, piercing eyes. 

‘You shouldn’t be thinking about it. He is just a scared little man.’ 

She shook her head and reached down to pet the dragon in wolf form. Yeah her friend definitely didn’t like Drifter, but that didn’t change the fact how she felt about the things that occured two weeks ago. Nevia got to her feet and moved over to Drifter. He was looking out of the window with a deep frown on his forehead. Carefully, trying not to startle him, she placed her hand on his forearm, making him look at her. 

Once he unlocked his arms from his chest, without a second thought, Nevia wrapped her arms around his middle, as good as she could, leaning the side of her head against him. Drifter instantly tensed underneath her touch, like he was expecting a knife into his back the next moment. The thought was painful, but instead of retreating she held onto him. 

Moments passed and it felt like an eternity for her, until he finally spoke up. “Shouldn’t have taken a bullet for me, crazy woman. Gave that bastard directly what he wanted.” 

She leaned back and stared at him for a little bit, trying to figure out the expression on his face, but his walls were up fully again. “So you would rather I just let you die? You know that Daisuke doesn’t work properly anymore! Who knew if he could have rezzed you?” 

“So you’d rather be dead?! Your brat of a Ghost was nowhere to be seen! I thought, he got you!”, he snapped back, eyes narrowed. “Then ya got nothin’ better to do than run off. You always run away from any of your problems?” 

“Yes. She does.” Chia appeared next to her and offered a helpful comment.

Nevia let go of Drifter and swirled towards her Ghost. “Keep out of it, Chia. This is none of your business. Leave us alone.” Taken aback by her companions confirmation and Drifter’s response, she pulled away again, returning to her cot and pulling her legs to her chest, deciding to wait out the storm in silence from now on. 

She didn’t answer to his approach a little later, not knowing what to say to him. Things between them were more broken, than she thought and this would take a long while to mend again.. At least she feared that. A deep sigh left her lips, while she was zoned out in her own mind. 

“The Dredgen is scared of this place.” 

Nevia ripped her head up and looked around. She was still sitting on her cot, but inside of the empty, blue room full of starlight. She had encountered the Emissary here before, when she showed herself as a giant imagine in the back. Now, though, she was hovering close to her, size of a normal woman. The huntress was finally able to take a good look at her. 

“The Nine refuse to give you proper clothes?” She crossed her arms about her chest and stared at the floating woman with an irritated glance. “Does this have to be now? I’m stuck in a fuckin’ storm. Do you have nothing better to do?” 

“We’re watching your action with great interest. You are still a mystery to us. We told the Dredgen to prepare for what is coming. To keep playing his game.” Her blank eyes stared at Nevia, lips unmoving. “We wish for you to do the same, but you keep refusing. We are wondering why?” 

“None of your business.” 

“So you keep answering, huntress. But we’re still watching.”

“You are nothing but a bunch of creeps.” Even if you’re right, she added in her mind. Something about the presence of the Emissary made her so angry. She hated it some people.. being..whatever.. thought they could just play with others to their own content. “We’re not like ants you can play with.”

“The Nine just wish to learn. That is all. Your choices make no sense to them. They do not understand the reach of emotions.” 

“Just back off away from us you freaks!” She reached under her pillow for Thorn and fired three bullets at the Emissary’s head, but they went right through. Just another proof that this vision was nothing but fake. “You’re not even killable.. What the fuck.. Get out of my head!”

She closed her eyes and just wanted to wish her away… That was it.. A wish. She tried to think about her connection to Yre and begged for her friend’s help. Thankfully the reaction was instant. Yre’s loud shriek crashed into the vision and shattered it right before her eyes, lifting the clouds on her mind and letting her go free again. Nevia covered her eyes with her hands. 

The humming of the unknown space faded and the first thing she heard was Yre’s growl in wolf form and Drifter snapping at her. Nevia opened her eyes, having a hard time focussing. These stupid visions always left her feeling a bit dizzy. She blinked, finding Drifter crouching down in front of her, carefully taking Thorn out of her hand. Focussing on the ceiling, she noticed three of the giant bullets sticking to it. A deep sigh left her lips.

“They been botherin’ you again?” His expression was unreadable. 

“Yeah..” She looked away, crawling backwards to get out of his space. She watched him shaking his head and getting back to his feet. The tension between them was at a high again and she just wanted to hide, but there was no hiding here. Her hands were trembling and she had issues breathing. It took her long enough to calm down again and none of those around her were much help with it. 

With shaking hands she reached for the backpack standing next to her cot, grabbing her cigarettes and lighting up one, before taking a long drag, blowing out smoke with a shaky breath. “Drifter.. If we go back to the Derelict.. What about Malphur.. If he finds you again..”

“He won’t. Worked while you’re gone to cloak the Derelict’s signal.. Again.. Meant though dealing with the Tower staff again, that was a joy.” He paused a little. “But it’s fixed.. Shouldn’t bother us.. unless someone tells on us again.” 

“Still wanna find out about that…” She took another drag. “One of our contacts or informants probably shat their pants when he showed up. We’re not exactly operating in secret with our business and requests.” 

“And then there is the issue of Shin himself... “

“If we can eliminate his source.. We should be alright, though.” They exchanged a long glance and their were silent words passing between them. Nevia drew the line of perma killing a Guardian, but she would also do anything to protect the people she cared about. Drifter knew that. He knew how ruthless and brutal she could be if needed. 

“Yes.. Gotta do, whatcha gotta do to survive..” 

“Hm..” Nevia pushed herself up from her cot and walked over one of the windows, looking out into the storm. “I have to check my records which informations I gave to which person.. They are all on my ship. The papers I have here are just the recent deals.” Thinking about her ship something else came to her mind. Nevia turned towards her cot. On the foot end laid Thorn. Maybe she should… No. Malfeasance and Thorn were her strongest weapons. She could handle them the best. The past needed to stay locked away. 

“Looks like the storm is clearin’.” Drifter’s voice ripped her out of her dark thoughts a moment later. He was looking up to the sky through another window and she followed his gaze. The storm was indeed calming down and she could already see the stars. “Let’s get outta here. Not gonna stay here longer than we gotta.”

Chia did her work, while Nevia packed up and folded everything with the help of her transmat so it would fit into Nevia’s big backpack. Her weapons returned to each side of her thighs and Quickfang back strapped to her waist. She threw the backpack over her shoulder onto her back and looked at Drifter with a firm nod. Yre rushed outside and in a shine of blue she returned to her original form, pushing herself up into the calm sky now and flying ahead. The huntress stepped outside and smiled lightly. “Did you come here over the small transmat zone to the north?”

“Yeah. Just behind that big ruin up ahead.” He grumbled quietly to himself. “Can’t help but feeling watched out here.” 

“This is territory of the Nine, of course they’re always watching. Also a reason why rarely any Guardians make their way here and it was a good place for Yre to hide.” Nevia climbed up into the emergency exit of the skyscraper Drifter had come through before. They made their way up the stairs and unlike him, Nevia didn’t pay any mind to the old, wrecked technology around them. 

She had to wait several times for him to catch up because he was busy investigating a piece of ancient trash. Nevia watched him mumbling to himself and couldn’t help the small smile, but it died quickly as she thought of the current state of their relationship and stinging pain hit her heart. She tried really hard to ignore it at this point. 

“You coming, Drifter? Go shopping some time else…” 

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t stress around, woman.” He followed her, jogging up the stairs and together they left Europa over the transmat zone further north. 

~~~

The Queen of Hearts - A day later.

~~~

“Is it wise to keep your ship hooked to the Derelict after what happened?” Chia hovered next to Nevia, as she was sorting her belongings and rearranging the ship. Most of these things will go into her new lair on the Derelict. Just to be save, Drifter and her had build up her own little lair in the large room in the back of the ship, next to the portal. Nevia wanted to stay close to Yre, but she wouldn’t be able to live in the Haul. 

So they set her up on the upper catwalks, built her a little hideout of her own. It went unspoken between them but they could still avoid one another. 

“Yes.. If Shin shows up again we can’t afford to be caught off guard again.. And we have work to do. We can still unlock our ship, if we have to go somewhere.” She slammed one of the crates shut and turned towards Chia. “Ready for transmat.” 

Her ghost made a short gesture similar to a nod and the crate vanished in a shine of bright blue cubes. “That should have been the last one, Nevia.”

“Alright. Let’s go over then and sort our stuff. The Derelict is cold, so I added two more small blankets to your bed.” Her Ghost made an excited spin as a reply and she snickered quietly. Shortly after they both vanished into another transmat and landed quietly in the back of the Derelict. On the upper catwalk now something like a little room was pulled up, including a little workshop, sleeping spot and spots for weapon and armor. 

A loud scream and a curse startled both of them. Nevia rushed towards the ladder leading up to her new hideout. Up top they found Drifter… under a crate. Her crate to be quite fair. He probably was just at the same spot, when Chia activated the second part of the transmat process. It was quite the miserable image, so she decided to help him. 

Nevia grabbed the crate and shoved it back onto the catwalk. She held out her hand to Drifter, but he refused and got up by himself, earning just a skeptical glance from her. She retreated her hand and crossed her arms over her chest. “Could aim yer transmat better next time, would ya?”, he growled at Chia. 

“I don’t have eyes everywhere, Drifter. If you’re in the way of an incoming transmat, while you’re well aware that we are moving Nevia’s stuff, you only have yourself to blame.”, her Ghost sassed right back. 

Nevia gave an exhausted sigh, annoyed by their constant arguing and retreated into her new hideout, opening one of the crates with her personal things and started to get set up in here. She made sure, she was able to put up the pictures on the cool metal wall to her right. 

“Ya gonna be alright up here? I gotta run some Gambit matches today, so we will be usin’ the transmat zone here.” He leaned casually against the entrance of her little ‘cave’. 

“Yeah, I got enough to do.” She turned to look at him, frowning when he suddenly had one of her pictures in his hand. She didn’t like him to look into her past, he knew what he had to know but her personal relationships were none of his business. Drifter eventually turned the picture with a smirk. It was Nevia in the middle of two Titans. To the left was Echo-L14, her old friend. A pitchblack Exo with dark red eyes and a soul, soft as a pillow. To her right was Esma. An Awoken with pale blue skin, purple hair and piercing bright eyes. She was all duty bound Titan, as Zavala dreamed of. But hell.. a beast in the Crucible.

“What’s that?”, he asked after a few moments.

“My old fireteam.” Nevia got up to her feet and took the picture out of his hand. Against her better judgement she started to share. “Before you came to the Tower I was paired up with a Fireteam of two Titans.. Well originally we were Titan, Hunter and Warlock, but our Warlock fell in the Red War. Either way. These two are Echo and Esma. We called us ‘Fireteam Thunder’, because we were all Arc users.” 

“Still can’t imagine ya with a staff.” 

“I loved being an Arcstrider. You know me.. Always up in the enemy’s face.” She gave him a light smirk and he returned it. “But yeah.. That was back then. God, I sound fucking old!” Nevia laughed quietly and put the picture away. 

“Mhm, keep talkin’, Kid.” He snorted quietly and then turned around, lifting his hand in a short goodbye, before he went downstairs and back to work, preparing the Gambit matches of the day. Nevia let herself fall into the pillows on her sleeping spot and reached to the makeshift nightstand, grabbing her package of cigarettes and lighting one up. 

“You think, Yre will be alright?”, she asked her Ghost, when Drifter was out of earshot. 

“You can always check in with her, you know? She is not that far away. Maybe go over, when the Gambit matches for today are done.” 

“Yeah.. you have a point.” She smiled a bit and took a drag from her cigarette. “I know what you’re thinking, Chia. This is only temporary, until the threat of Shin is over and we figured out, who it was that sold us out.” 

“Hm… Maybe we should get to work then.” Her Ghost hovered next to her, her single optic showing a bit of worry. “All your papers and work data are now here.” 

“Let’s get to it then.” Nevia sat up, cross legged and started pulling apart her informations, contacts, contracts, requests and past jobs. She had been doing this for 7 years now.. There was a lot to go through. Downstairs, she could hear a bunch of Guardians, taunting each other before a new Gambit match. She smiled softly and shook her head.


	8. Sand & Tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early post, since my birthday is tomorrow ^^

Mars’ Orbit - The Derelict / 9 years Post-Forsaken

~~~

“I fucking hate Mars.”, Nevia complained as she walked over the catwalks towards her little hideout above the transmat zone of Drifter’s ship. “I want a shower or a bath. Now.” She pulled loose the ties of her cloak and dropped it in front of her place to keep the red sand outside with the rest of her armor and clothes. Only her undershirt stayed in her hand.

“You took the request for Relic Iron. You know it costs a fortune in the City itself. At least here you don’t have to make a cut for the Consensus.”, Chia reasoned with her, but Nevia didn’t want to hear any of this. 

“I hate Mars! And Mercury! What’s with all this stupid sand?! Thank the fuckin’ Traveler I don’t have any hair.” She grabbed herself a fresh shirt and underwear, after she got rid of most of the sand. Nevia dressed herself once more and stomped through the Derelict on bare feet. “Drifter?! Where you at?!”

“Front!”, came the reply faintly from behind the heavy steel door that separated front and back of the ship. With a bit of effort she pushed it open and stepped through, closing again with a loud noise that announced her without any mistake. She found Drifter at the very front of his ship, fingers rushing over some holoscreen with unknown symbols. Nevia had no idea about mechanics or Dark Age tech. “What’s up, little Dredgen?”, he asked while he was still working on...whatever he was working on. 

“I need a bath.” 

This information obviously confused him and he took a close look at her. “Well, I don’t smell ya.”

Nevia let out an annoyed sigh and clenched her fist around her dirty shirt, before smacking it right across his arm. “I need a bath, Drifter! I feel gross! It’s not my fault you have no proper working shower here on this giant trash pile!”

“Hey! Ya live on that giant trash pile, too! And yer friend, by the way, as well, so don’t ya comin’ over here and givin’ me shit for my ship, alright?” He had gotten up as well and pointed his finger at her, towering over her much smaller form, but that didn’t keep Nevia from pushing herself up on her tiptoes and stare right back. 

Unseen by his eyes, Nevia raised a hand slowly up to his head, carefully getting closer and with one sudden movement she grabbed his dark green headband and pulled it down over his eyes. With a quiet laugh, she jumped backwards. 

“Argh, what was that for, woman?!” He tried to correct the headband again, but only messed up his hair more and earned more laughter from the huntress. 

“You’re being a dick.”, she replied but there was no spite behind her words, she actually smiled, feeling relieved that the interactions of them slowly grow less tense than before. Weeks had passed already since they moved everything to his ship. Nevia would never openly admit it, but she missed being close to him, missed proper interactions with another person, who wasn’t a mind reading dragon. 

Drifter huffed. “Whatever ya say…. And where would the lady like to bathe today? Technically ya could shower here, ya know.” 

“Yeah, if I wanna die from freezing..” 

“So warm it up with your light.” Drifter looked at her like she was completely stupid. She understood what he wanted to say, but she really craved a proper bath.. Nevia sighed and walked past him to the console in the front of the ship. She took a short glance out of the gigantic window and then looked down to the various of controls. “Hey, what do ya think yer doing?!”

“Setting up coordinates to Io.” She stubbornly decided to figure out how this thing worked, but she couldn’t keep the smirk off her lips. 

“Ya not doin’ anything like that! Stop! Don’t break my ship!” He reached around her and grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands away from the console and Nevia escaped a small giggle. Drifter wrapped his arms around her, holding her in place, forcing a full laugh out of her as she playfully tried to struggle her way out of it. “Crazy woman. Only shit in the brain.” 

“Says the right one! Let me go!” 

He roughly flipped her around in his arms and pressed her waist against the navigation console of the ship. His hands on each side of her. He was too close. They hadn’t been this close in weeks and her heart was instantly picking up the pace. She felt him typing something on the console directly behind her, but she couldn’t turn her eyes away from his. 

Drifter’s breath brushed the skin of her cheek and Nevia had to swallow. She reached up and clawed into his coat. It was the same as before on Europa weeks ago. He didn’t respond at all to their closeness, even when she lifted one of her hands to cup his cheek. Nothing. “Drifter.. I..”

He didn’t let her finish. Drifter stared down at her, unmoved. “I set course to Io. So you can get ya bath.” A few more moments of silence passed and then his attention shifted to her hand, still clenching around the fabric of his coat. Nevia ran her thumb over his beard and eventually let go of him, giving him the chance to step back, but to her surprise, he didn’t. His eyes were focussed on her again. 

“You alright?..”, she asked carefully, wanting to know what was going on in his head, not that he actually ever told her. The times he did, she could count on one hand. Even with the mutual trust they had before, they both kept their fair share of secrets. “...Drifter?” 

There was a conflict behind his eyes, that was only visible for a short moment. She knew he had always trouble with himself thanks to everything that happened to him. “ ‘m fine. Gotta do some work.” And then he stepped back, turned away from her and sat back down in front of a pile of metal, that looked like a ruined minotaur. Nevia watched him for a moment and let out a quiet sigh, before she moved to the small kitchen area and tried to cook up some food.

Difficult to find something to eat, though, since they hadn’t stocked up for weeks. After Io they need to get fresh supplies from somewhere, but that meant to head into the Last Safe City, since the outposts of the Awoken were mostly laid waste and the Tangled Shore was no place to stock up, unless they wanted to pay Spider’s stupid fees. Not that she would have a problem with it, since her account outside of the City’s bank system were filled with Glimmer from her jobs, but she did it out of the simple principle of disliking Spider. 

She huffed in disapproval. “Any matches today?” 

“Nah.. Today’s free. Why ya askin’?” 

“Right. I’ll go and see after Yre until we reach Io.” She dropped the idea of cooking and turned around to walk out of the heavy metal door. Before she could go and see her friend, she summoned her Ghost. Chia looked at her with a bit of concern. “Can you transmat my armor?” As a reply, she nodded and a moment later her comfortable clothes were replaced by black leather, a long cloak and her Ahamkara bones, all decorated with a bright green glowing snake. Thorn and Malfeasance resting heavy on her thighs. She walked over the catwalks towards the portal in the middle of the room, letting herself fall into it without hesitation now. The Nine wouldn’t dare bother her again, while she was protected by Yre’s powers. 

The surge grabbed onto her and the huntress was pulled across the gap between the Derelict and the Haul. 

She landed silently on her feet and instantly started jogging into the blinding white of the landscape. The snow was crunching beneath her, as she ran past the edge of the Abyss right in the middle. In the distance something moved. A form seperating from the background, shedding the illusion of not being there in the first place. Yre was a majestic image, though she told her once that she wasn’t nearly as much, as Ahamkara used to be. The Hunt, that was supposed to extinct them, had left her with little to live from. 

The deal they had made.. Nevia’s desire was enough to feed an army of these dragons. 

Yre’s giant form loomed over her and she smiled softly. Her friend seemed alert for a second, but relaxed once she realised, who was visiting her. “It is an odd place.. this one here, that the little scared man has.” Her mouth was unmoving, the creature’s voice directly in her head. 

“He hides all kinds of surprises.”, Nevia replied out loud, watching the Ahamkara settle down again into a comfortable lying position. She settled against her front leg and looked out onto the Haul. “Is this place alright for you to stay, for now at least?” 

“It will serve it’s purpose, Defender mine. Until I can find a new home.” She turned her massive head and her voice in Nevia’s mind was gentle and kind. The bright eyes soft and the huntress found herself smiling lightly. “Oh though, I am afraid..” 

“Hmm? Of what?”

“My daughter suffered her lifetime treated as an exotic pet.” Yre looked out onto the fake, endless horizon. “A fate I wish upon no one..” 

Nevia quickly caught on, what she was trying to say and she jumped to her feet. “You are not a pet, Yre. You’re my friend and I promised you to protect you with whatever it takes. That’s what I intend to do. You are no prisoner. You can leave whenever you wish. Nobody will be in your way.” She placed her hand on the smooth scales of her leg. 

Their eyes met for long moments and Yre slowly tilted her head to the side. “You wish to protect those close to you, because you weren’t able to defend the one you loved.” She didn’t get an answer. Nevia looked down onto her feet, her free hand clenched into a fist. “That is why you left everyone behind. You wish to protect them.” 

“Told you that my memories are off limits for you, Yre…” Her hand slipped off the Ahamkara’s leg and she took a few steps away. Yre meant well, but she had no grip of human emotions. How could she? Nevia wasn’t exactly human, one got the idea, though. 

“You still miss your mate. Why did you take a new one, Defender Mine? The scared little man is unsuitable for you.” 

Her heart clenched as the words echoed in her head and she had to remind herself again, that her friend had no idea how emotions and feelings worked. Not for people like Nevia at least. However, Yre was right. She missed Cayde a lot. Her life still felt incomplete and there wasn’t a day passing with keeping her wondering what he would think about her now. Probably would be horrible disappointed or even terrified of what his wife had become. 

Nevia put her hand in front of her mouth, when an image of her and Cayde appeared in front of her, happy, having a bowl of ramen together. It was likely that Yre just wanted to cheer her up, since the image quickly shifted of them racing sparrows, relaxing in the Vanguard hall. Good times, when everything was still alright. A quiet sob escaped her and the vision instantly vanished. She had a hard time holding back the tears, while she turned away from Yre, walking back to the transmat zone. 

She could feel the distressed spirit of the Ahamkara at the edges of her mind, but she couldn’t look back. Nevia wasn’t mad at her, but she couldn’t stay. She vanished into a glow of light blue and was gone from the Haul, only to reappear in the transmat zone of the Derelict. Chia appeared next to her and gently nudged her cheek, trying to comfort her Guardian as best as she could. Nevia’s shoulders were shaking with suppressed tears and sobs. 

Slowly she made her way over the catwalks towards the ladder, which led up to her little hideout on top of the hall. She didn’t notice the footsteps coming from the front of the ship. She leaned her head against the ladder, she cool metal easing the approaching headache a little bit. When her Ghost offered to heal it, Nevia declined. Her hand clenched around one of the bars. 

“You alright?” 

Drifter’s voice came out of nowhere and it startled her so badly, that she let go of the ladder and swirled around, ready to defend herself if needed. He lifted his hands in defense, giving her a moment to snap out of it and realise, who was approaching her. “Sorry.. You startled me.” 

“Ya fine. What happened to ya? Your scaly friend did somethin’?” He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he wanted to accuse her of something, though she knew he didn’t mean it like that. Not that he was wrong.. “You don’t have to tell me, ya know?” 

She just nodded and looked down onto the floor. 

“I made some fresh life juice up front in the ship. Actually came to ask you if ya wanted something?” His voice was a lot softer than usual, as if he didn’t want to scare her away. Nevia nodded once more and eventually followed him through the metal door to the front of the ship. Silently she sat down on the old leather couch and didn’t move an inch, until Drifter put down a cup with steamy coffee in front of her. With a shaky hand she reached out and got a hold on it. The warmth spread through her hand and fingers. For once, since she obtained her Solar powers, she felt cold. It was an alien feeling now and she missed her Arc powers. It always balanced everything out. 

He sat down next to her, leaning back against the couch, one leg crossed over the other and the coffee mug casually in his hand. Drifter didn’t say anything and she greatly appreciated his silence. It was a comfortable one, though. Her hands stopped shaking after a little while and her breath evened out. She turned her gaze towards him, while his own was lost in the nothingness. 

“She meant well..” Nevia’s voice was soft and uncertain. She wasn’t even sure how to explain all this to him.

“What did she do?” It was only then when he turned his eyes towards her and she noticed, that he looked extremely exhausted and tired. Did the Nine visit him again? Did he even sleep at all? Things were still tense between them, but she should watch out for him at least a little. 

“Showed me images and visions.. of Cayde.” Her eyes returned their attention to her hands and she put the coffee cup onto the table. “She didn’t mean to hurt me. It’s just.. just…” Her words were cut off by a shuddering breath.

“Hey now..” She felt him shifting next to her, a warm arm wrapped around her shoulder. “It’s not real, little Dredgen. Deep breaths.” 

“I know.. I know, but…” Nevia let out a hiccuping sound and stared at her hands, which were shaking again. Drifter pulled her closer, maybe a bit forcefully. Like earlier, her fingers clawed into his coat, fresh tears dropping onto the dark green fabric. All tension suddenly left and everything seemed like it was before.

“It wasn’t real, Nevia..Darlin’ look at me.” 

Her name from his lips caught her attention and she looked up with a questioning gaze. Her eyes were rimmed dark purple from her blue skin and the salt from her tears, which irritated it. But instead of his unique smirk or some snarky remark, she was met by an honest, soft smile. Drifter leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Nevia bit back a smile of her own and curled up next to him, as he continued drinking his coffee. 

“Y’know… We’re still on our way to Io..” She could feel the vibrations of his voice in his chest, as he spoke. It had something calming and soothing to it. “Ya can still go for your bath.” 

A quiet snicker left her mouth. “Alright..”


	9. Baths on Io

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't have time to proof read this. Sorry for any errors..^^

Io - Lost Oasis / 9 years Post-Forsaken

~~~

Nevia crouched over the corpse of a dead, Taken knight, pulling Quickfang from the gibbery pile of goo, the Solar energy slowly fading from it’s blade. The whole area was now cleared of any Taken and the pools in the Lost Oasis lay peacefully, only the gentle movements of the water in it could be heard. It was so different here, compared to any other planet. The Traveler’s energy still cursed through the very veins of this planet. 

She got back to her feet and next to her appeared a blue shin, which quickly formed into Drifter. The huntress gave him a long, disapproving look, since he showed up again when all the work was over, like usual. He crossed his arms over his chest, watching as Nevia returned Quickfang to it’s original spot at her waist. 

“Late for the party. As always.”, she commented with a frown. The ponds here reminded her of the hot springs that one could sometimes find around a volcano, just..without all the lava and fire. Nevia stood at the edge of the water and started undoing her armor. 

“Ya think it’s smart to just get rid of your armor out here?” Drifter settles on a big rock close to her, he was carrying some papers and it took her a moment to realise, that these were her work documents. She had offered them to him, when they started to try and figure out who sold them out to Shin. 

She dropped her weapons on top of her cloak, laying on the ground, slowly following by her leather armor. “I cleared out all the Taken and their Blights around this part of the Oasis. We won’t be bothered. You know, you’re welcome to join me.” Nevia pulled her undershirt over her head and her underwear was the last piece to go. She noticed Drifter hesitating, as he was sorting through the mess of papers, which brought a light smile to her face. 

“Nah, thanks but I would rather not be caught by a bunch of Taken with my pants down.” 

“Isn’t that what you do in Gambit?”, she teased him with a smirk and laughed at the frown on his forehead. She, however, didn’t want to wait any longer and made her way into the bright blue pond. The pools here weren’t exactly deep and in the middle the water only went up to her waist. Nevia leaned back on her arms, so that only her head was breaching the surface. Eyes closed, she enjoyed the cool water on her tortured skin. She might was immortal, but that didn’t keep her from having dry skin and bathing just felt good. The energy of the light in this water also had a gentle, prickling sensation to it. 

Silence fell over them, a comfortable one, though. Drifter was working through her documents, trying to figure out if one of her contacts could have talked. Drifter mostly worked alone and didn’t trust anyone, so it was unlikely that one of his informants gave them away. “One of your scouts hasn’t reported back after his last mission. Ya should really keep closer tabs on your people.” She opened one eye only to see him make a very thoughtful face. “Randy was supposed to deliver you three crates of Relic Iron around the time, when Shin found us…Really?! Randy? What is wrong with these people.”

Nevia lazily stretched her arms and sighed. “Yeah, I know.. Everything wrong with Randy. You’re not exactly subtle with your giant trash bin, Drifter.” 

“While that’s true, Shin said he wasn’t there because of me, if I might remind ya.” He looked up at her and adjusted his gaze a moment later. Since was he so hesitant around her? Nevia wanted to believe things were alright between them again. 

“You don’t have to remind me.. Took a bullet for it. Do you think Shin..convinced him to tell him where I was?” She sat up right now, knees pulled to her chest and her arms wrapped around it. 

“You’re trusting someone named Randy, ya should be only blaming yourself, little Dredgen.” He paused for a moment and looked at her again. Somehow she imagined him looking like a professor, he was just missing glasses. Thinking about it.. He would look hot with glasses… Her mind wandered off, before snapping back when Drifter spoke up again. “Maybe you should pay your friend a little visit.” 

Nevia moved over to his rock, only to rest her forearms on top of it, leaving her lower body in the water. She looked at the papers he was reading. “I will.. as soon as we get back to the Derelict, I will take my ship and figure out where to find him..” She raised her gaze and observed his face, finding concern in her heart. “Drifter..”

“Huh?” 

“When was the last time you slept?” She rested her chin on her arms, waiting for his response. He looked tired since she found her way back to the Derelict, but it only gotten worse. His eyes were irritated and red from the lack of rest. She wanted to help, but how.. 

“Y’know I rarely sleep. What’s with the question?” He put down the papers and rested his elbows on his knees. Nevia was quiet, though, much to his annoyance. She reached out for both of his hands with a smile and held them for a moment. Drifter was certainly confused by her actions, only to realise what she had planned when it was too late. 

She was a small Guardian, more trained on speed and swiftness, than strength, but she also was specialized on close combat, so a certain power came with it. It was enough to pull a distracted Drifter from his position. She took all the strength she had and put it into her hands, dragging him away from his spot, over the edge of the rock and right into the water. Nevia jumped aside and held back a laugh. 

He sat in the middle of the pond, water reaching to his chest, completely drenched. He just looked plain miserable. Like a cat dunked into a bucket. “Was that really necessary?” Instead of bursting out into laughter, which was really hard to battle, Nevia slipped back into the water and approached him slowly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself into his lap, as far as she could. She pulled one hand back and used it to cup his cheek, brushing her thumb along under his tired eye. A light smirk played around her lips, when she moved forward and leaned her forehead against his. She ached for his closeness so badly. Being alone wasn’t something that worked out pretty good for her in the long term. At least he understood her thinking, supported her in that without any conditions, outside of the City’s prison bars. 

When he didn’t put up any resistance, just put his hands on her waist, she leaned back and looked at him through hooded eyes. “You sure, you don’t want to go for a swim with me?” 

“I am already. Involuntary.” He looked so done with her, that she couldn’t help but let out a short, quiet laugh, pressing her lips to his a moment later. Her heart felt like it was jumping out of her chest from fear, that he would reject her again after everything that happened, but faster than expected his muscles relaxed a little and he actually returned the kiss, even hesitant. 

She shouldn’t be doing this, she knew, but it felt too right in this moment. 

Nevia pulled away and snickered, when she ran her fingers through his soaked, black hair, pressing another kiss to his forehead and then slowly rising back to her feet. She held her hands out to him again and laughed at his skeptical expression. “I’m not gonna pull you down again.” 

“Ya sure about that?” With a smirk of his own he accepted her help. Nevia had a hard time pulling him back to his feet, since all his clothes were full of water and probably so much heavier than usual. Drifter dragged himself to the shore of the pond and sat down on the ground, pulling loose the ties on his shoulder pads. She crouched down next to him and helped him on the other side. 

The heavy armor piece was dropped to the side, followed by the long coat, leaving Drifter in his shirt and leather pants, trying to dry. She settled down next to him and pulled her knees to her chest, resting her head against his shoulder. 

They sat in silence for a long while, but it was comfortable, nothing awkward. The bond they shared seemed to be healing and Nevia was more than relieved, as she thought about it. Drifter put an arm around her and even when his clothes were still soaked, she cuddled herself closer into his side. His thumb drew lazy circles on the pale blue skin of her shoulder, sending little shivers down her spine. 

“Isn’t too bad, is it?” She turned her gaze a little and smirked up at him. 

Drifter frowned lightly and looked out onto the ponds. “Nah, though ya didn’t have to give me a bath for that.” 

Nevia just shook her head and reached up to run her fingers through his beard. With slow and elegant movements she swung her leg over his and straddled him. She grabbed both of his wrists and put all her weight against his upper body, so he would fall back. With a light grunt he landed on the rough ground and just stared at her. This time there was no hesitation from either of them, when Nevia leaned down to kiss him. She hummed in approval and pushed her tongue past his lips. A low groan rumbled in his throat. 

She let go of one wrist and reached to his side, pulling loose the ties of this shirt. It fell open on the front and she ran the fingers of her free hand over his chest and through the curls of black hair on it. This was familiar territory, without all the uncomfortable tension between them. Drifter grabbed her hand, causing her to pull back and look into his eyes. For a second she expected him to actually just push her off and leave, but instead he just held her gaze. 

It took her a moment to figure out, what he wanted from her, unlikely for him not to use his words. She was aware of him not feeling safe outside of his ship.. Not even there actually anymore thanks to Shin Jerkphur. But they could make do. “Chia.. little help?” 

Her Ghost appeared a moment later, looking back and forth between her and Drifter. “Why am I not surprised and yet so shocked that you ask for my presence when you sit naked on top of him?” She sounded so done and Nevia smirked lightly at her. 

“You shouldn’t be surprised at all. Could you transmat the coat and shoulder pads back to the Derelict? I really don’t want to bother Daisuke.” She knew that her companion had a weakness for Drifter’s Ghost. So had Nevia, if she was honest. Even though his relationship with his own Guardian was more than strained, the huntress and her small ai really did appreciate him. 

“Fine.. Give me a second..” 

On the inside Nevia was grinning, but she rather turned her attention back to Drifter, only seeing his drenched clothes vanishing in a blue shine out of the corner of her eye and Chia with it. Her friend didn’t want to watch them obviously. “You good now?” When he nodded, she got off him and reached out with her hand to help him up. She couldn’t help but miss his wandering eyes, before he accepted the hand and was pulled to his feet, at least as far Nevia could. 

Shortly after he was standing up again, both of them were pulled back to the Derelict by Daisuke. Chia probably had started ranting to him by now. 

Returning to the hall at the back of the ship, Nevia was hit by the icy air around her and even her Solar light didn’t exactly help with warming her skin. She shivered once and wrapped her arms around her. Going naked was a bad idea after all. A blue glimmer next to her gave away Drifter, who just stood there, arms crossed over his chest, giving her the most smug look she had ever seen. “Cold, heh? Lemme getcha warm.” 

“...Drifter? Drifter!!”

With a chuckle he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up, as if she weighed nothing, throwing her over his shoulder and giving her a light smack on her ass. Nevia squirmed and tried to fight him, though not with much heat. She only struggled to get out of his grip and tried to scratch him with her long nails..occasionally. He wasn’t very phased by it. After all, the huntress was a lightweight. 

“We are not going into that container of yours!”, Nevia pointed out pretty insistent. 

“Whatever the little Dredgen wants.”, he replied smoothly and turned to his left to move forward to the ladder, which let up to Nevia’s new home. Her hideout was better organized, than Drifter’s so they had a lot more space, also her pillows were a lot more comfy, so she approved. He managed to get both them both up the ladder without issues and into her own little space. 

He let her go from his shoulder and pulled off his shirt. Nevia had circled him by now and started pulling at his belt, her heart beating fast and giving her a sense of nervousness. Why was she nervous? They had done this like.. hundreds of times. Somehow today it still felt different. 

Once the belt was loose, Drifter kicked his leather pants aside and wrapped one arm around her waist. He walked her over to her sleeping spot. It was covered in pillows and blankets. Not a real bed but certainly more comfortable than his little cot, also offered a lot more space. They settled down next to each other and Nevia pushed herself right up to kiss him again. She somehow expected him to tense or still reject her after everything. This would probably be a feeling stuck to her mind for a while. 

She reached for the necklace, still decorating his chest and gently pulled him further towards her, more of a nudge of what she wanted and thankfully he caught on quick. Drifter moved from the side on top of her, settling casually between her legs and looked down at her with one eyebrow raised. She frowned lightly and reached up to run her fingers through his beard. “We’ve never done this kinda stuff before..”

“What? Havin’ sex? Did ya get switched out to a secret twin or somethin’?” He teased her in good nature and chuckled. Nevia smiled. She liked it when he laughed.. Really laughed, not the fake ass smirk he usually wore on his face. It was sort of flattering to her that he felt safe enough to let his guard down around here, again at least. 

“No, you silly. This..thing.. being soft an’ all.” 

“Would ya rather go back to rough play, then?” He leaned down and nipped at her neck a second later. She giggled lightly, so unlike herself. A sound that hadn’t passed her lips for a long time. Nevia actually felt kind of happy.. 

“No.. not this time at least..” She felt a bit insecure on asking him for something softer, than what they were usually doing to one another. Their relationship used to be casual. Business partners with benefits to let out some steam once in a while. Nevia didn’t want to pinpoint what it was now, because it just felt like she was betraying her deceased husband. For now it felt good and right, giving her some sense of normality back and as far as she knew Drifter, normality was what he secretly wanted. If one broke through his rough exterior with all the fake smirks and snarky comments, there was a good man underneath. Not black or white, grey, but not bad either. She could work with that. 

While her thoughts wandered, she traced the line of the unique tattoo on his right arm. While there was a simple snake curling up around his left one, this here was a lot more complicated. She didn’t know where it was from, but she liked it. 

“Still with me?”

His voice startled her a bit and she turned her gaze back towards him. She smiled, nodded and then pushed herself up on her elbows to bite him into his lip playfully. With a low groan he attacked her neck with bites of his own, though not as gentle. Nevia gasped and dragged her fingernails over his back, leaving some angry red marks in their wake. His lips especially lingered at the Gambit snake tattooed under her ear. 

Nevia maneuvered her feet around so she could hook her toes into his underwear and drag it down, though needed a few attempts and caused him to chuckle. Drifter had mercy on her and helped out with his free hand, which was not carrying his weight. After the first bit, she was able to push it all down by herself and he turned his attention back to her. His fingers parted her already soaked lower lips and started gently teasing her, while grinning into the curve of her neck. Nevia let out a quiet moan and rolled her hips against his hand, desperate for more after weeks of neglecting her own desires. 

“Don’t tease me..”, she grumbled and gave him a firm scratch over the shoulder blades. 

“Ya wanted soft, ya get soft.” He took his hand away from her under Nevia’s protest and wrapped the arm around her middle, lifting her body a bit up, so her back was arched. The new angle let him explore more. He pressed a kiss to the Joker card inked over her collarbone, then the Motes to the side. She was breathing heavy by now. He probably felt her heart hammering against her chest. 

He took his time for once and she really wanted to let him, but Nevia was craving her release. They could go longer later.. She let herself drop back onto the pillows below her, reaching down to slap both of her hands on each of his ass cheeks, forcing a yelp and then a laugh against her overheated skin out of him. “Get on with it!” Her voice was supposed to sound demanding but there was an amused tone to it.

Drifter just moved up and kissed her again, full of hunger and desire. She reached down between them and guided him to her entrance. He took advantage of the help and pushed inside agonizingly slow. Nevia let out a long sigh and her head fell back, eyes closed. Their pace stayed slow and gentle, nothing compared to the usual brutal movements of their usual intimate encounters. 

The release that followed some time later felt heavenly, leaving both of them drained and pleasantly exhausted. With a shaky hand, Nevia brushed her fingers through Drifter’s sweaty, black hair. He leaned his forehead against hers with a breathy chuckle. Another few moments and he dropped himself to her side. 

She locked her arms behind her head and stared at the ceiling of her hideout. Drifter’s finger followed the pattern of the tattoo on her right leg up to her waist and back down. “Remember when we agreed on just occasionally get rid of some steam?” She thought he was joking, but he looked actually quite serious. 

“Yeah.. Damn I was a wreck…” 

He laid his head to rest on her chest. “Never thought this is how we would end up. Can’t say I mind.” Drifter paused before he continued. “I’ll come with ya to see your contact. Not feelin’ good about letting ya go by yourself.” 

“Fine.. for now.. I need a nap.. And our bath was a waste, too..” 

“Heh, yeah..”


	10. A guy named Randy

Io’s Orbit - The Derelict / 9 years Post-Forsaken

~~~

Nevia woke up from her sleep by just being too warm. She felt like she was burning up from the inside and outside. Her eyes opened slowly and she felt the sweat making the thin sheets clinging onto her skin. Her face was buried against a just as warm chest, though not as sweaty as herself. Arms were wrapped around her, holding her in a safe embrace that she wanted to let herself fall into instantly.. if she wouldn’t overheat so much. 

Soft snoring came from above her head, vibrating through all of Drifter’s chest. He crashed hard. She didn’t even want to think about when the last time was that he got some proper sleep. Hating to disturb him, she tried to get herself a little air as careful as possible. A gentle movement, she managed to kick the blankets away and the cold air of the Derelict hit her overheated skin. Nevia sighed quietly and moved a bit further up to actually look at his face. 

Drifter looked.. peaceful and she couldn’t believe she actually thought these two words in the same sentence. There were barely any worrying lines on his face and he seemed purely relaxed for once. But in his sleeping state his subconsciousness probably noticed her moving and he let out some not understandable words in a low grumble and nuzzles himself between her bare breasts. This man is insufferable. It was something she lo….. liked about him. 

Nevia reached up and carefully pulled his headband off his head. He had forgotten to take it off when they landed here. With a soft smile, she would never show anyone, she started to run her fingers through his black, messy hair without the intention of waking him up, but Nevia just enjoyed doing this. Her heart clenched at the thought, that she had been deeply missing this closeness to another person for nine whole years. It was so different from everything else they usually did. 

Her long fingernails gently scratched over his head and down to his neck, careful not to actually hurt him, and then back up again. After a few minutes she could feel his heartbeat, with the position he was laying in against her stomach, picking up. He was certainly waking up and the content grunt coming from him proved her right. Drifter turned his face to the side, probably to breathe easier. 

His eyes were still closed and his nose wrinkled lightly for a moment, before he settled down again. Nevia had to hold back a snicker and just kept going in caressing his head and neck, but she found herself smiling down at him either way. While he was holding her a bit in place with one arm, the other rested casually on her side, the thumb drawing lazy circles over her pale blue skin. 

“Drifter..?”, she asked, her voice as gentle as possible. 

“Hmmm?”

“We should get up. You’re very warm.” 

His reaction however was just an unhappy noise, nuzzling closer into her skin, causing her to laugh quietly because of his beard tickling her rather mercilessly. “Just five more minutes..”, he mumbled against her. 

Despite his words, Drifter lifted his head a little. His eyes were heavy lidded from sleep, his hair messed up by Nevia’s fingers and there were dark rings under his eyes still, but not nearly as prominent as they used to be. Looked like she would have to tire him out more often, so he could actually get some rest. She followed his gaze which landed on the bullet scar above her right breast, underneath the collarbone. It came from Shin’s Golden Gun shot, which she caught for him some time ago. Nevia reached for his chin and forced him to look at her. 

“Hey.. It’s alright.. It wasn’t your fault. I’m fine.” 

“What makes ya think that I think it’s my fault?” He frowned, trying to prove his point but Nevia knew better. She cupped his cheek into her hand and just shook her head. Insufferable man. 

“How about some coffee, hm?” She returned to running her fingers through his hair and to her delight, he closed his eyes for just a moment, visibly enjoying it. This was all so… normal. Normal couple things.. The thought left her frowning. They were not a couple. It was all far more complicated than that and she was too scared to pinpoint their relationship on one word without hurting herself. 

He only hummed in response, but didn’t make any movements to let her go. Nevia laughed quietly and gently took his arm away. “You can stay here, alright? I’ll call you when I’m done.” Despite everything, she pressed a kiss to his forehead while getting up and then reached for his shirt, putting it on, but only loosely tying it on the front of her stomach. On bare feet, she left her little hideout and Drifter behind, making her way downstairs, quickly hurrying through the ice cold part of the ship and pushing the heavy metal door to the front open. 

A lot warmer than the rest of the ship, the living space on the Derelict offered a chaotic sight as always. Drifter was a busy man and didn’t care much for cleaning his shit up. Nevia sighed deeply and moved to the left side of the large room, starting to prepare the coffee machine and putting the small can that said Vex-Milk far faaar away, replacing it with normal milk from the fridge instead. She cleaned up two mugs and placed them on the counter. 

Breakfast? She thought about it for a second but then shook her head and decided, that coffee was enough for the moment. Drifter was the better cook of them both. Hard to believe but true. Chia popped up next to her and Nevia could instantly see the offended expression on her companion’s optic. A second later a blue shine appeared around her waist and.. Chia had transmatted panties on her. The huntress laughed quietly at that. “Thank you.” 

“You are welcome. I’m getting tired of healing your colds because you always fail to put on clothes!” 

“Why would I put on clothes when no one but you guys are around? It’s not like Drifter minds, or Daisuke for that matter.” She gave her Ghost a light smile and while she waited for the coffee to brew, Nevia made her way over to the cockpit, ignoring all the buttons, settings and shiny screens, her gaze was only focussed on the gigantic window that offered a view over the planet Io. From up there she could make out the ruins of the ancient City, which one could see from the Lost Oasis in the distance. 

“Have you decided what to do about your contact?”, Chia changed the subject. The question left Nevia thinking for a few moments, while her eyes observed Io’s surface. 

“Yeah.. Good question.. I guess, I will go talk to him and see if he has any answers for me, that I like..Otherwise I’ll deal with it.” 

Her Ghost wasn’t pleased with ‘dealing’ with things. She was aware what her Guardian meant by it. If Randy told on them, Nevia would put him into his place, meaning she would kill him. She had gotten very ruthless in the years after Cayde’s death, not taking betrayal well. In her business it was deadly and she cherished living, besides all the pain and suffering. 

They had to be so careful.. Especially if their problems involved Shin Malphur. 

The sound of bare feet patting on the cold metal floor caught her attention and a sleepy Drifter entered the living space in the front of the Derelict. She watched him, while he poured them both a cup of coffee. Nevia didn’t notice that the coffeemaker was already done. “I’m gonna run matches most of the day. Ya wanna join at some point?” He looked her over and a lazy smirk appeared on his lips. He put on some sweatpants before going here, much to her disliking. 

“I don’t think so. I wanna go and check on my little rogue contact before tonight.” She walked over to him and took the coffee mug with a smile, leaning against the kitchen counter. 

“Well if ya wanna wait until tonight, I can give you backup.” 

“I don’t know, Drifter.. I would rather not you run into Malphur again if we can avoid it somehow.” She gave him a worried glance. 

“Mind I remind you, little Dredgen, that our ‘Man with the Golden Gun’ gave us a visit last time because of your business, not mine? I think ya’ll be better off with some eyes on you.” 

Nevia huffed in annoyance at his words, knowing very well that he was right. She took a careful sip form her coffee, the warm drink instantly spread a pleasant feeling all through her body. She was not in the mood to discuss these matters any further right now and would humor him. “Fine. I’ll wait.” 

~~~

The Derelict - Earth’s Orbit / 9 years Post-forsaken

~~~

Nevia spent the day with going through her documents and cutting most communication for her business partners and contacts. For the moment at least. She would have to cut most of her ties in favor of not being told on again and everything was just one big mess. The noises from the hall below, where Drifter launched his Gambit matches didn’t exactly help so she moved to the Haul, spending some time with Yre, who was still feeling guilty for hurting her so badly the other day. Nevia forgave her Ahamkara friend, though, 

The silence of the icy wasteland and the soothing presence of the female wish-dragon helped her and Chia work through all her papers more quickly than expected. She burned most of her records with Solar energy and only kept the essentials, while talking to Yre about her work and what she is doing. The Ahamkara didn’t quite get the concept of laws and breaking them, but Nevia wasn’t surprised by it, but it took her a good while to explain what it meant to be smuggling dangerous and illegal wares into the City without anyone noticing. 

And after everything she would have to rearrange her whole schedule and the paths her people took. This was going to be a pain.. But for now everything should settle again. 

With her work mostly done and Yre being content with the situation, Nevia left the Haul once more in a blue shine of her transmat and returned to her little hideout in the back of the Derelict. Drifter was just finishing up with his Gambit for the day. While Nevia was suggesting to take the Queen of Hearts back to the City, because she could cloak her tracking number and go in stealth, which the Derelict couldn’t, Drifter had his doubts after Venus to fly with her again. 

And.. a few second later.. he was strapped to the passenger seat, hands clenching into the rocked down leather, while he stared out of the front window. Nevia gave him a side glance, highly amused, while Chia unlocked the ship from the Derelict and they head out from Orbit down into the outskirts of the Last City. “So.. Tell me about this guy.” Drifter’s voice sounded so pained, she almost felt sorry for him. 

“Been working with him for years already, usually very trustworthy. Warlock, human, curious, ruthless and fast working. Brought me a good amount of Glimmer over the years, too. Shame that I’ll probably have to put him down.” She pushed her ship into flying faster, dropping down towards the ground a bit outside of the city walls, ignoring the panicked expression on Drifter’s face. “He lives rather secluded away from civilization, which made it easy to actually do business here behind the wall and not outside of it.”

“Let’s see what your guys has to say then… Once we’re on the ground…” 

Her contacts home was nothing but a small cabin between a few trees, rather hidden away from prying eyes. The only way to reach it was over a path between two big rocks. Approaching them, Nevia got hit by an uncomfortable feeling. Drifter, who still looked rather pale from the flight, seemed to be noticing it too. He crouched down on the edge of a stone, picking up some black dust… Ash?

“Is this ash, Drifter?” She walked over to him, arms crossed over her chest, she frowned. 

“Sure is.. I don’t like this. This whole area smells burned.”He got up back to his feet and nodded towards the path ahead, which was vanishing between the trees. “Ya feel it too, don’tcha?” 

“Yeah.. Not feeling too peachy about it. Let’s go.” Instead of walking, she started jogging forward, grabbing Malfeasance from her thigh. The burned plants and scorch marks decorated the way ahead. When they laid eyes on the small cabin, Nevia actually gasped out. 

“Well… Shit.”, was all Drifter had to say. 

The small cabin showed various holes in the walls. A part of the roof collapsed and Void burn covered the wood accompanied by shots that looked like the ones of a Golden Gun. Nevia ran inside, wanting to know what happened to her year long contact, only to find the completely destroyed interior. 

“Eh, that happens to you when you name yourself Randy.” Drifter stepped into the small house, looking around, while Nevia checked upstairs. 

“Drifter! I found him!” 

Upstairs, she was crouching down next to something, that was nothing but a charred corpse. Some part of the body was destroyed and only the lower part was able to be identified. She had a worried expression on her face, as she examined the remains. “You know whose handiwork that is…”

Drifter crossed his arms over his chest and he didn’t even bother to hide his anxiety about the simple fact of those words. “Yeah.. Yeah, I know.” 

“Seems like Malphur took out witnesses…”, she stated with a bitter voice, hands clenching into a fist. “Does he always hunt like that?” 

“Far as I know. I usually avoid confrontation with the Man with the Golden Gun. He’s trying to get to you. There is only one rule this man follows and that is his one hard on for revenge. If ya ask me, it’s all a big waste of energy.” 

“No need to reason with a lunatic… I.. I fail to see how this all fits together.” Nevia got up, huffing in frustration, while she looked over at Drifter. He seemed tense and lost in thought for a moment. She moved over to his side and put her hand on his arm. 

Chia appeared next to them and looked at the two lightbearers. “I will erase the clues that you were around. I advise you both to leave now.” 

They looked at each other and nodded. While Drifter was already leaving, Nevia examined her Ghost with a worried expression. “Thank you, Chia.”

“You are my Guardian. I will always help you.”


	11. A Ghost's Concern

_When I found my Guardian on a floating rock at the outskirts of the Reef, I was overjoyed. There was not much left of her, hovering in the empty space, but the Light in her was strong and I decided now was the time to choose my companion for the rest of my life. When I brought her back, I taught her everything she needed to know about this world and what was happening in it. The empty space around us felt electrified, only a hint of what she would develop as her abilities later on._

_She suffocated five more times, before I managed to put some armor and a helmet on her. I felt distressed and thought I would lose her right after finding her, searching for centuries._

_A Void Warlock named Lorenzo picked up my emergency signal and brought us to the Tower safely. In the silence of the other Guardian’s ship my Guardian and I named each other. She named me Chia, after a moon goddess from the ancient times. She couldn’t tell me how she got that name, only telling me that it felt right. And I named her Nevia. Nevia is a ancient roman name and it means ‘pure’, because her light was a pure white when I revived her._

_Picking up her Guardian duties quite well, Nevia and I became an unstoppable team. We joined a Fireteam. Two Titans. Echo-L14 and Esma. Fireteam Thunder, since everyone in here was full of Arc powers. It were good times, easy times, until that day we found these cursed bones on Mars. Thinking about it.. This was probably the beginning of the end._

_Ahamkara bones, centuries old, turned into a piece of armor by a Warlock named Yaralia. Said Warlock would die later on in a raid on the Hellmouth. A loss my Guardian could never really work through. Only our friends helped with that. Siobhan, a Nighstalker, Jareth, a Sunbreaker Titan and Anna, a Dawnblade Warlock, short Fireteam Siren. Another Gunslinger huntress named Kura, of course Echo and Esma. And most of all the growing relationship between Nevia and her Vanguard Cayde-6. They thought themselves so smart and were so stupid at the same time. Everyone could see the blossoming love from miles away, just not them. I was happy for Nevia. We were happy. She became a legend in the Crucible, learning the legendary art of swordsmanship from Lord Shaxx himself._

_It was around this time when the whispers began and my Guardian was drawn by an outside force to the moon. I don’t like remembering this time. It was a major point that caused a rift between her and the Vanguard and also the first time, where I was worried about her loyalty and alignment. Crota, Oryx and the SIVA crisis, not to be speaking about the Red War, took a toll on all of us. But we dealt with it together. Always._

_Life returned back to normal. There were no more whispers, no more tears. Nevia actually married that idiot of an Exo. As much as I like to complain about him.. He was good for her. They fought many battles side by side, either on the field or with words. Sundance was my friend as well. She had a very funny personality, pleasant to be around and spending time with her made me feel less lonely, when Nevia felt she had to distance herself._

_And then..they died._

_Cayde and Sundance died to Uldren Sov and his Barons, influenced by an Ahamkara named Riven, we will get to her later. Nevia became enraged from grief and almost lost her mind. She went on a rampage, drowned the Tangled Shore in blood, even if she wasn’t the one to deal with Uldren. Her best friend Siobhan was the one. I think, Nevia never forgave herself for not being the one to carry out revenge._

_The time since then had been a blur for the both of us. Nevia returned to the tower and no matter how much I tried to talk some sense into her, she went down a path no one could follow. It was then when she first met a man who called himself ‘The Drifter’. Starting with partaking in his Gambit, dropping the Crucible and becoming one of the champions of the new activity._

_But it wasn’t enough. Grief was still commanding her every move and she was determined to deal with it, which turned out to be the most wrong way possible. Nevia set out to follow the rumors of surviving Ahamkara in the territory of the Nine, most specifically on the moon Europa. Finding out that said rumors were true, the wish dragon we met was called ‘Yre’. A female Ahamkara, who hid herself away from the blazing guns of other Guardians. She told us her story, how she had been saved by another Huntress during the Great Hunt._

_While Yre refused to grant Nevia her wish on returning her dead husband to her, they made another deal. Nevia would find out what happened to Yre’s last remaining child and in return, Yre would protect her mind and cleanse the cursed bones, strapped to Nevia’s arm. Not knowing what to do with herself and the strange wisdom of the old creature, my Guardian set out to fulfill the task, she had been given. And we found the child, realising it was Riven, the very Ahamkara that had corrupted Uldren and made him end Cayde’s life. It was personal and in a wild rage of bloodlust, Nevia took down Riven single handedly._

_Yre kept her promise, of course and Nevia allowed her to feed on her own desire, to keep her alive and safe. They started building a lasting friendship during the coming years. All this, however, wouldn’t stop her to return to the Derelict and it’s owner._

_She accepted bounties from him, outside of the Tower, started to work as a smuggler and information dealer until her network grew over time and she and Drifter became business partners and something else I don’t want to name._

_I don’t trust this man. He feels wrong and carries an aura of death and despair._

_His Ghost, however, is a kind being. Nevia named him Daisuke because she felt bad that Drifter never gave him a proper name. It means ‘Great Help’ and he is! And he is sad, like me. Our Guardians did not become what we wanted them to be, but they’re ours and it’s our duty to protect them._

_A few days ago we found one of Nevia’s contacts dead in his home. Killed by Shin Malphur. The very one who hurt my Guardian a some weeks back. She sent me away. She still cares, right? That has to be the proof for it._

_But Nevia is descending into Darkness.. She wields Thorn and Malfeasance now, disregarded her husband’s legacy and I don’t know what’s on her mind anymore. She avoids me, doesn’t listen anymore. Our bond grows weaker every moment and I fear, that one day I won’t be able to revive her anymore. I’m so worried, that she will run into her death at some point. However.. She smiles more now.. It’s not because of me, certainly, but enough to feel little moments of peace.._

_Please come back to me, Nevia._

_I don’t want to see you die like Cayde and Sundance. Return to the Light. I know it’s still in you._

**(Thoughts of the Ghost ‘Chia’ - Companion to the rogue Guardian ‘Nevia Vanan’. Recorded on the seventh day of the fourth moon.)**

~~~

Earth’s Orbit - The Derelict / 9 years Post-Forsaken

~~~

Nevia had her arms crossed over her chest and looked out of the big window on the front of the Derelict. There was a tense expression on her face and her mind was occupied with worries. Shin was out there hunting for her and she didn’t want to risk him getting on the Derelict again. He probably knew that she was still here, so why bother with killing her contact? Would he attack her other people too? A deep sigh left her lips and she pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. 

She needed to address this issue named Malphur soon and if he didn’t stop.. She would gun him down or die trying. There was still the constant fear in her mind that after he still would try to hunt down her the few remaining friends she had. She couldn’t have that. 

Her thoughts were running wild, probably would cause Yre a headache, if she would link up to her now. Thinking about her Ahamkara friend.. The Nine hadn’t paid her a visit in a while as well.. So another thing to worry about. Nevia didn’t notice that in the corner of her eye was movement, she basically stared out of the window, only switching her attention when a package of cigarettes appeared in front of her. 

“Looked like ya could use one of those.” Drifter’s voice sounded almost soft, like he was trying not to startle her too much and scare her away. Did she leave really such an unnerved impression? She had to pull herself together. 

“Thanks..” Nevia took out one of the cigarettes and lit it up with her solar powers, taking a long drag, closing her eyes and breathing out the smoke a moment later. Her nerves feel a bit more at ease now. Guardians didn’t have any health issues with drinking, smoking and various other things thanks to their Ghosts. Same went for Nevia. No matter how much Chia scolded her sometimes 

“You didn’t sleep last night.” Drifter moved to her side, leaning his back against the wall next to the main console of his ship. 

“No.. Guess I didn’t.” She took another drag from the cigarette and a second later blew the smoke back out. “Not much peace to sleep when you get face to face with the fact that Shin fucking Malphur is gunning down my contacts just to get on my fucking nerves.” 

“So watcha gonna do about it? Being paranoid for the rest of your immortal life?” He snorted with an dismissive gesture. She didn’t fail to hear the unspoken ‘Like me’ in his words.

“How about gunning that son of a bitch down and be done with it?” She frowned deeply and looked into Drifter’s pale eyes. Her gaze was full of anger and irritation. Deep down she was so terribly afraid of that judge playing freak, but Drifter didn’t need to know that, though he probably did already. Or not? Who knew with this guy. He was probably just as scared as her. 

“You not just gun that guy down like that. You cannot outdraw him and probably just get yourself killed in the process.” He gently pushed her aside and typed some numbers into the console, she couldn’t make any sense of. A second later the Derelict actually started moving. Nevia had no idea about navigation. Chia took over this usually. 

“Who says I want to outgun him? There is also the option of basically stabbing him in his ugly face.” She huffed and paced around a little. 

“Ya really wish to die, huh?” 

“I don’t wish to die. I wish to get rid of our stupid problems!”, she snapped and angrily took a drag from her cigarette. Maybe she should think about her wording more with Yre not far away in the Haul. She was a lingering, comforting presence most of the time at the edges of her mind, but sometimes… She was an Ahamkara after all. It was in her nature to grant wishes. 

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Hotshot.” He lifted his hands in defense. “Even if ya get your hands on that bastard.. You need to get him and his Ghost. He sure as hell not gonna make it easy for ya. So what ya should do is cut your ties to your contacts for now, hide here on the ship and let the dust settle, y’know what I mean?”

Nevia huffed in annoyance. “The Vanguard, the Praxic rats, Shin Malphur, the Nine, who else wants to get a bite of our asses, I wonder?” She takes the cigarette out of her mouth and squishes it in her hand, her Solar energy lighting the rest on fire and turning it into ash, which gently sank to the ground, when she opened her fist once more. Tears of fury were threatening to break free from her eyes. “And this solar light?! Why is it sticking to me like that? I don’t want it. It’s not mine.”

She grabbed the small device, she was wearing around her wrist, unlocked it and threw it across the big room against the metal door that connected to the back of the ship. It went to the floor with a shattering noise. Her breathing was heavy and she wiped her eyes angrily. A rough hand slowly turned her head again, forcing her to look Drifter in the eyes. “Calm down. Ya freakin’ out.” 

She just stared at him and tried to calm her breathing, sniffling once, which made him smile lightly. Her heart still beating like crazy, Nevia put her hands on his chest and shook her head. “I’m sorry. The longer I’m cooped up in here, the more paranoid I get… I’m a Hunter. Gotta get out.”

“Ya wanna go out and get shot down because Malphur finds you?” Drifter frowned deeply at her, not so keen on the idea of her wandering out into the wilds by herself. “Why don’tcha just come and play some Gambit. These kids could use someone to show them how it’s done.” 

It was true, she hadn’t taken part in a Gambit match for a while now, but there was too much on her mind to deal with helpless Kinderguardians who had no idea what they were doing and just too incompetent to play in the Crucible. “No thanks, maybe when you have some proper players again. I will take a trip down to earth, I think.. Not the EDZ, though. Thought about the ADZ.”

“American Dead Zone? You wanna go diving in the swamp?” The irritation was clear in his voice. The region of the ADZ had rarely been touched. Only a few scouts made their way to old Chicago and other big cities around the area, what made it a good destination to just get out. No other Guardians would be around. The only thing she expected there to be aside from the local fauna were maybe some Fallen, if they hadn’t picked it all clean already. 

“I got my reasons…” She freed herself from his grip and took a step back. “I’ll be back when you have your day finished.” Nevia pushed herself onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips gently to his. The kiss lingered a little too long to be a simple goodbye kiss without any meaning behind it. Drifter noticed and she knew. But Nevia left her actions unexplained and turned to leave him in front of the giant window with the view onto earth. 

“Chia, can you transmat my armor over, please?” 

Only a second later, while she was walking along the big room, opening the door to the back of the Derelict, blue shine surrounded her and the casual clothes were replaced by her costume made armor and weapons. Her cloak, covering her left side completely to hide Thorn away from view, swayed gently with every movement, her boots creating an echoing sound on the catwalks. 

Chia appeared by her side and an aura of worry radiated from her Ghost. She examined the huntress and hesitated a few moments before she actually spoke up. “I don’t like this, Nevia.. You’re getting yourself in grave danger just for him..” 

“You don’t get it, do you?” Nevia shot her an annoyed glance. “I’m not gonna risk getting him in danger just because I’m too scared to actually confront my problems. He will not be involved in this. I lost Cayde because I let things go as they were. This will not happen again. Never.” 

“But Drifter is not Cayde, Nevia. He is not your husband.”

“My husband has been dead for 9 years.. I want to finally let him rest but the universe does like to remind me of what I’ve lost.” She stood in the middle of the big hall in the back of Drifter’s ship, facing the portal, wondering what Yre would think about all this. But her Ahamkara friend was in good hands or at least she hoped so. “Transmat, please.” 

The Queen of Hearts felt strange, now with all her stuff gone and moved to the hideout on board of the Derelict. It actually offered a few to see how big this ship was on the inside. Nevia sat down in the pilot seat and started up the engine, unlocking the ties to the much bigger ship above. 

“Nevia, please. Think about it.” 

“What are you afraid of? That I lose my life, or that you lose yours?”, she snapped at the Ghost and kicked her jumpship, so it rushed downwards towards earth, flying high over the ocean, the water just passing by beneath them in nothing but a blue rush. “Dispatch the message.” 

“You almost sound like him….”

“Dispatch the message, Chia!” 

The small Ai visibly flinched at the harsh words of her Guardian and started working, while Nevia flew further down, close enough to break through the clouds and get a look on the landmass underneath them. “Where would you like to pin the coordinates?”, Chia asked with a tone in her voice, that Nevia could only notice as defeat. 

“Ruins of Monroe Harbor. The park around offers enough space so he can’t hide. At least not without a Sniper Rifle.” It was all she had to say for the moment. On the outside it didn’t seem like it but Nevia hated arguing with her Ghost. Chia was important to her, more than ever. She was an ever loyal companion but the past years and the time after Cayde’s passing had turned her vision of the world quite sour. Their relationship would never be the same after all they had been through. 

As they approached Old Chicago, a swamp area spread out all across the landscape. Most of the skyscrapers were halfway sunken into the ground, if they weren’t completely destroyed at all. She would pay closer attention to it later.. For now her only destination was the remain of Monroe Harbor. In a blue shine of the transmat, Nevia left the Queen of hearts and set foot on the soft, mossy ground covering the once blank stones. 

And now.. She waited.


	12. The Man with the Golden Gun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part only survived thanks to my friend Jay, who basically broke down my writer's block and formed a lot of the last scene with his words.

Earth’s Orbit - The Derelict / 9 Years Post Forsaken

~~~

Drifter felt anxiety creeping up his mind, as he watched her switch into her armor and walking away, knowing quite well she would be very angry when she figured out what he had done just now, but he couldn’t help the blank fear of her dying. He didn’t need any bad memories like this. He saw her die once already, but her Ghost was able to revive her. Though if Nevia encountered the ‘Man with the Golden Gun’ it was over. He wouldn’t let her go another time. 

Which was why he had hid a small microphone in her clothes, while she gave him a goodbye kiss. Just to be safe, at least that’s what he told himself. 

So while there was a Gambit match going on on his screens, a pretty good one actually, his mind was busy with worrying and concern. He kept glancing at his Ghost, who was hovering wordlessly next to him, just looking at the screen. As soon as the match came to a close, Drifter announced the young Guardians being paid and closed the transmat so they could return to their ships. 

He started playing with one of his jade coins to calm his nerves. The quiet ‘cling’ always soothed his irritation. He should have said more, kept her from leaving. It was too dangerous out there right now. Drifter moved to the old, worn leather couch standing in the front part of his room. There were two empty coffee mugs on the table, bringing back the image of them both sitting here, tired as hell and just silently slurping this life elixir. 

Cold dread was gripping at his veins, when he turned towards his Ghost, who was just staring at him. He could feel the disapproval and disappointment, but frankly he didn’t give a shit. “Don’tcha dare giving me that look! Can ya open the link?!” 

Hesitation. Of course. But another stern look was enough to convince the small Ai to open up a connection with the bug in Nevia’s armor. It took a moment for the signal to become clear but eventually he could make out the engine sounds of the Queen of Hearts. Thinking about it, he was surprised that Chia hadn’t alerted her Guardian that there was a bug on her. Probably had been well aware about his intentions. Smart thing. 

“But Drifter is not Cayde, Nevia.” It was the first sentence that he heard through the bug in the Ghost’s voice. He frowned deeply and looked down at his hands. Of course he wasn’t that idiot of an Exo and he would never want to replace him, not that he ever could. He knew about the relationship with her Ghost from Nevia, how it was before her husband died. Now they constantly seemed to be arguing. He wasn’t surprised, thinking about his own opinion of Ghosts. Of course Chia wasn’t pleased to learn that her Guardian strayed from the Traveler’s dogma. 

While his thoughts were wondering he lost track of the conversation, just listening to their voices in the background. Nevia was deeply upset, he could tell. But there was one line she said, that made him halt in his doing. 

“What are you afraid of? That I lose my life, or that you lose yours?” Nevia snapped at her Ghost with cruel words. This was surprising since she usually always defended them from him and also had named his own, without him wanting to. Drifter glanced over to his own Ghost, who was just silently staring back at him with the single red optic. 

The answer Chia gave was another unexpected turn. Her small voice sounded defeated and sad. “You almost sound like him..” 

Drifter was aware that she spoke of himself and his dislike for Ghosts. He was used to stabs from Nevia’s companion but he was more interested to who she dispatched that message to and why she was in so much distress about it. A bitter taste filled his mouth, while fear held his heart in an icy grip. 

From their further chatter he made out that they indeed went to Old Chicago but not to get some fresh air, as she told him. He wanted to tell himself she was just out meeting one of her contacts to cut ties for a while, but deep down he knew better and it worried him. He wouldn’t be able to back her up this time. Maybe he should… 

“I’m not gonna be there in time… Ghost, send a message to Siobhan.. or Yvette.. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”, he grumbled. 

~~~

American Dead Zone, Old Chicago - 9 Years Post-Forsaken

~~~

Old Chicago was different from everything she had ever seen before. Usually the regions one could explore after the collapse were either wastelands or deep forests. The swamp was full of life and while the inhabited regions of the earth, which was mainly around the City and the Farm, were almost stripped of any fauna, far out here nature had regenerated quite well. While she was sitting on a crumbled wall at the harbor, she saw a couple of deers run by, totally unbothered by her presence. 

For some reason it calmed the panic that was rising up in her chest. She knew why she did this here. To protect those she cared about.. or fail and die. It sounded like a cowards way out. Even if she failed she wouldn’t be around to see the fallout of everything happen. Selfish thinking, but it was how it was.. 

Nevia reached into one of the satchels on her belt and grabbed the package of cigarettes, taking one and lighting in up. She pulled the hood of her cloak away from her head and continued to watch the surroundings with a keen eye. 

It didn’t take long, when she noticed an old City style jumpship on the horizon approaching her position. Her heartbeat instantly picked up, nervous and anxious. 

“This ship doesn’t have City signature, Nevia. It’s him.”, Chia commented. 

The huntress just watched. Her bright blue eyes focussed on the movements in the sky. Once the ship passed over them, her focus dropped to the ground in the middle of the harbor. It was probably once some type of plaza? Flames erupted, covering a tall, male figure, who landed swiftly on the ground not too far away from her. Nevia watched him and took another drag from her cigarette.

“Yep.. And he is one dramatic son of a bitch.” 

The first time she met Shin Malphur, few weeks back, she didn’t have the chance to actually observe him properly in the panic she had been in.. You know.. Almost dying. But now? Her eyes were trained on him. He had no hesitation in his step, so sure of himself. He probably saw her not wearing a hood, so he did the same thing, pulled his own down. Huntercloak.. This guy was no Hunter. He was nothing but a lunatic. 

She took another drag from her cigarette. The closer Shin came, the more of his features were revealed to her. His face looked tired and worn out, dark rings around his eyes, scruffy cheeks and amber coloured eyes with a crazed expression in them. He probably had asian roots from what she could see, but who knew these days. 

“Can’t say that I wasn’t surprised when I found your Ghost pinging mine. To what do I owe the pleasure?” To her surprise, he approached her openly without making any attempts to fight her. For now. 

“You know very well, why I contacted you, Malphur.”, she almost spat out, taking another drag from her cigarette. “Your overboard entrance doesn’t make you look nearly as intimidating as you think you are.” 

“Thought ya would want to make things easier for the both of us.” There was a cruel smirk on his lips and Nevia couldn’t help but feel disgusted by it. Her hands clenched into fists, the leather of her gloves gave an irritated squeaking sound while she did so. “Though I can’t help but wonder what the late Cayde-6 would think of this.” 

Her jaw locked in a desperate attempt to not say anything in response. He was just trying to provoke her into making a stupid mistake and act in a rush. Even if this was the legendary ‘Man with the Golden Gun’ she would cut him down in a second if given the chance. 

“You and I both know that’s not why either of us are here.” Her tone was low, threatening, trying to use his own weapons against him and provoking him into attacking, but he didn’t move a muscle. 

“Because of The Drifter.” 

Solar power surged through her veins when she looked into his smug face, feeling only a desire to strangle him. Nevia had to be careful, however. Shin was a lot more experienced than herself, even if he wasn’t currently carrying the legendary Last Word and stood before her empty handed, but they knew who would win the quickest draw, when it came to a gunfight. She had to play her cards carefully, if she wanted to keep the upper hand here. A bloodbath between them was inevitable at this point. Her light was still not fully under her command, even after all these years basically using it, when it came down to it she wasn’t exactly sure how well it worked against someone as skilled as Shin - who has spent his life perfecting his Golden Gun. 

“Amongst other reasons.” Her voice was cold, not letting giving any clue that she was playing games with him. The guns strapped to each of her thighs were begging for blood, reacting to her emotional state. As much as she knew, there was barely a chance for her to beat him with his own chosen Subclass, the image delighted her. Outgunning Shin Malphur with his own creation, using Malfeasance.. Certainly an ironic story worth telling. 

Sadly her skills as a Hunter never had been focussed on being a Gunslinger, be it with the Golden Gun or with the burning knives. And hell.. she really loved these things. She had to learn to bind the Solar powers to her own weapon. She had never asked to ‘retrieve’ Cayde’s Light. It had been almost forced on her. But Malphur didn’t need to know that. 

“Shall we be done with this then?” 

Nevia took one last drag from her cigarette and then dropped it into the mud, grinding it with the heel of her boot into the ground. She didn’t pretend to understand what Shin was going at here, but it clearly pissed her off. He wasn’t taking her seriously, arriving unarmed only with a few smug words. His only answer to her reaction was a tired, almost disappointed sigh. 

“As you wish.”

He was too relaxed, too calm for this whole situation, while her pulse and heart were nothing but racing. Nevia drew her Quickfang, her anger raging wildly, waiting to be unleashed upon him. “What is it now? You wanna just run?” 

Shin made a gesture similar to a shrug. That was the final straw. Rage and fury exploded inside her and Quickfang instantly erupted in flames. While her light felt different, more intense than usual, Nevia blamed this on her own emotions, there was something different. It was sort of unstable. Since Shin had no intentions of properly fighting her, she didn’t take this insult lightly. Her boots ground into the dirt and mud, pressing the end of her cigarette further underground. 

Every muscle in her body went tense, her stance slowly changing and the second later she charged forward, burning sword in hand. The flames hungry for the flesh of the man named legend before her. Once she reached Shin, took a precise slice at him.. He dodged. Without any issue. Nevia snarled, almost growled in fury. She stopped in her movements, spun around and swung at him once more. Her precision suffering from her blind anger and secret fear buried in her heart. She didn’t want to die, but she also wouldn’t allow Shin to cause them problems any further. 

When he dodged the second strike, Nevia fell back a few steps, breathing heavy. Not from exhaustion but from the pure strength of her emotions going crazy. She reached for Malfeasance into her free hand and fired several rounds at Shin. “Fight me, you fucking coward!” A few of the bullets actually hit him, but he wasn’t going down that quickly. When the first magazine was empty, she switched to Thorn, pointing the cursed weapon at his face. 

He managed to get out of the way from the heavy bullets and she basically dropped the gun to the ground, returning to her sword and trying to attack again. The flames on Quickfang suddenly flickered, paled and it caught her so off guard, that Shin had an opening for an attack. Too focussed on her own dilemma, she didn’t notice that he actually drew his gun. A dull pain exploded in her temple, when something collided with it. Disoriented she blinked down at her sword, which was flickering even stronger now and then slowly focussed her vision, or tried to. What was happening? She could feel an inner battle of her Light with something else. This was literally the worst moment for a personal crisis. 

She had to attack again.. otherwise..

_CRACK_

A shot rang through the air and with a pained shout, Nevia went down to the ground, losing a hold of her sword. Shin finally had fired the Last Word, not with the intention to kill her though. The bullet went directly into her thigh, getting stuck here. Tears were forming on the corners of her eyes. Chia wouldn’t be able to heal her anytime soon. Coming out now would be her death sentence. Blood was dropping from the thigh into a dirty puddle on the ground, giving the water a reddish colour. 

Shin was approaching her slowly, crouching down in front of her, tilting his head slightly to the side. They stared at each other and while he could just simply end her, he didn’t, too full of himself he was. “Do you really think you could just come here and kill me? The path you’re walking blinded your judgement it seems.” He almost chuckled, moving his arm so he could point the Last Word at her once more.

As he was spilling out his monologue, Nevia felt a shift in her powers. Her Solar light was restlessly battling with something else. Another force inside her head that wanted to break free and for a moment she feared, that the voices she had locked out for so long were making a return. The blood loss was making her feel a bit woozy, or so she thought. Under his piercing eyes, she managed to move a little and regain a hold of her Quickfang. The next time she tried to cover it in flames, it failed, leaving her to fight with nothing but the bare blade. 

Throwing herself to the side, she managed to dodge one of his shots, but got hit by another in the shoulder, hissing out and blocking two more bullets with her sword. She faintly recognized the smell of an approaching thunderstorm, but her brain quickly sorted her priorities back to survival. With the burning pain in her leg and shoulder, Nevia rolled towards Shin and managed to catch him off guard, cutting his lower leg and moved out of the way, before he could hit her again. The tingling sensation under her skin clearly distracted her, like her limbs would all fall asleep at once. 

Everything seemed to be happening in slowmotion, the moment she lifted her gaze again. Shin had spun around and aimed the Last Word again, this time directly for her head. The numbness of her arms and legs suddenly faded, seemed to be bundling into her right hand, causing her to drop Quickfang once more. Sparks crackled over her gloves and realisation finally hit her. 

It had been years since she used it. All this time it had been suppressed by her own mental barrier and her late husband’s light, broken into her system. 

With a loud crackling noise, thunder out of nowhere struck her hand and formed her missed and beloved Arc Staff. If she wouldn’t be in such a dangerous situation, Nevia might have cried in joy. But there was only the small part of a second for her to react and she spun her staff, the bullet from the Last Word colliding with the electricity. The momentum of the block caused it to fly backwards, directly the way it came from. 

And for the first time Nevia saw something on Shin’s face that came close to surprise. The bullet crashed into his stomach and with a gasp he instantly fell to the ground into the dirt, gritting his teeth and holding the wound. With the fall his gun got knocked out of his hand and he was defenseless. 

She dragged herself forward on her Arc Staff, bleeding quite heavily and feeling drained and exhausted from the short, but intense fight. The sharp end of the staff was pointing at him, directly at the throat, small sparks of electricity burning his armor and skin. Nevia breaths came harshly, while she tried to find words. She had beat him. Shin Malphur, the Man with the Golden Gun, Dredgen Vale and whoever the fuck else he was. He was laying on the ground before her, looking at her with disgust in his eyes. 

She ignored the three jumpships approaching the area, rushing over them and making a turn at the further back. The huntress was too focussed on her enemy, tears in her eyes from the pain and desperation. 

“I am not what you hunt. I never perma killed another Guardian. Never. And you will leave us alone or you can be damn sure that you’ll be the first, Malphur.” She swirled her staff around in her hands and had it vanish. “Get out of my fuckin’ sight.” 

His Ghost seemed to be a lot smarter, than the man himself because a few moments later, he was surrounded by a blue shine and transmatted away from the scene, probably back to his ship. Only now Nevia recognized other voices calling her name, running towards her. Chia appeared next to her and started patching up her wounds. When she turned around she caught sight of three familiar figures running towards her. Quite surprised, she made eye contact with Siobhan, Jareth and Anna. All of Fireteam Siren had somehow caught wind of her situation and position.. but how… Nevia looked at her Ghost with suspicion. She transmatted a small device into her hand, which had previously been placed under her armor. One of Drifter’s bugs… Seriously..

“You let him bug me?!”, she snapped at Chia, but the small Ai stayed silent, not engaging her Guardian into the post-battle adrenaline rush. Siobhan reached her first and wrapped her arms around her friend, asking wildly what had happened and why Drifter of all people called for her help.

Nevia would owe her the explanation for a long time. 

Jareth picked her up without many words and Anna started to check her over if all injuries were properly healed. A lot of them left scars on her pale blue skin, but Nevia couldn’t care less, she just hoped that the message was received and Shin would finally leave them alone...


	13. Wash it all away

The Derelict - Earth’s Orbit / 9 Years Post-Forsaken

~~~

Fireteam Siren had taken her away from Old Chicago after her fight with Shin Malphur. Chia had done her best to heal the wounds left behind by the Last Word. Just a few more scars to be added to her collection. Another tattoo required covering them up. After talking to her last remaining friends, they brought Nevia to the Iron Temple. Lady Aine Mac Cleirich was an old Warlock and wife of Lord Saladin. She was a doctor, nurse, scholar and scientist at the same time and Siobhan, as well as Anna, demanded for her to go see her and to check her injuries. 

The elder woman shortly after a concerning look at her approved of her being good to go. Not like Nevia expected anything else. And she fled the Iron Temple as soon as her friend’s consciousness was calmed down. 

Nevia took the Queen of Hearts away from Old Russia and took a moment in Orbit to center herself. She just had to fight Shin Malphur one on one and survived to tell the tale, which she probably never would if she was completely honest. He wasn’t as scary, if one caught him off guard. But there was another thing, that was even more startling than the simple fact of facing down the legendary ‘Man with the Golden Gun’. Her Arc Light had fought it’s way back from exile, breaking down the barriers the foreign Solar light had put up and remanifistated itself in the moment she needed it the most. 

Why that was and why it hadn’t shown itself sooner, she couldn’t tell. She was no Warlock with a million of theories on this, just basically accepted it as a fact that she wasn’t bound to Solar anymore, but got her familiar Arc back. She felt a little more like herself again.

But now she had to face the consequences of her doing. She had lied to Drifter, again, otherwise he would have never let her go by herself. She needed him out of danger.. On the other hand. He had put a damn bug on her, had listened to everything that went on between her and Shin. The worst was that Chia knew and didn’t say a thing. Extremely frustrated by her Ghost’s actions, Nevia kicked her ship back into gears and flew off high above earth’s surface, until the Last City came into view. 

She kept her distance, only watching the giant wall wrapping around what was left of humanity. In her eyes, all she saw was a prison. Once it had been different but she would never see the Tower and Vanguard with the same eyes ever again. 

Returning to the Derelict gave her a strong push in anxiety. She was mad and scared at the same time. Chia had transmatted her from the Queen of Hearts onto the big hall with the portal leading towards the Haul. She would go and see Yre soon. She needed the comforting presence of the Ahamkara and maybe some advice. 

She looked up onto her small hideout on the upper catwalk. With a deep breath Nevia moved on through the back, past the sleeping container and the workshop, where Drifter wasn’t to be found. Normal, since he usually ran his Gambit matches at this time of day. She placed her hand on the cold metal of the door connecting to the large cockpit. The moment she stepped into the large room, Drifter was leaning over a screen next to the console with the flight controls. Hearing him casually comment on a match in the way, he always did, pushed her fear and anxiety to the side and let anger dominate the situation. 

Not even bothering to be quiet, she stomped towards him and put her hands on her hips, glaring form her bright, piercing eyes. He didn’t turn around, though she knew he very well heard her approaching. “You put a bug on me!”, she declared, loud enough to be noticed on the comms, he was just speaking into. She could see his shoulders tense and he pushed the button to mute the microphone. 

Daisuke appeared next to him and looked back and forth between his Guardian and the huntress, visibly confused. “Ghost, take over for a moment, will ya?”, Drifter asked him and to her surprise, Daisuke had lines recorded from Drifter probably for when he was busy for a moment during an ongoing match. Or longer.. 

“So?”, she crossed her arms above her chest. Her armor was still marked by her fight against Malphur. Bullet Holes had ruined some of the soft leather. 

“So, what? I bugged ya for your own safety. You were lying to me. Ya thinkin’ I’m stupid?” He spoke rapidly with a raised voice. Drifter never raised his voice. No matter how angry he was, his voice always stayed calm. Nevia couldn’t stop the flinch when she heard him becoming loud. “Ya wanna die? Going out there having a nice chit chat with Malphur?!”

“I wanted to free us of a problem. Don’t tell me you’re not scared shitless to be gunned down by this psycho.”, she snapped back, instantly being defensive about her decision. “I lived, I beat him and that’s about it.”

And then something happened, she had never seen before. She was aware that Drifter was given the power of Solar Light, though he never used it. Maybe only to light up his coins for dramatic effects or warm up food. But now? Now the Solar powers was covering his right hand, while it was clenched into a fist, shaking ever so slightly with tension and distress. That moment she realised, it was not anger what made him raise his voice. 

“You didn’t even get rid of him. Let him go. You had the chance, Nevia.” 

No more nicknames. So this was really serious. “To become pathetic like the Shadows? Like those he kills? Never. I won’t give him that satisfaction and proof him right. He is beatable, Drifter. I almost killed him.” 

“But’cha didn’t and it almost got you killed. Don’t think I didn’t hear it.” He pointed at her with his hand engulfed in fire. “Would have really pissed me off, hearin’ you die on the other end.” 

“I’m not dying, Drifter.” Her voice had turned a lot softer than before. She knew his history and even without him saying it, Nevia believed to know what was going on in his head at this very moment, which didn’t happen very often but his own emotions were clear as day on his face. She wasn’t even sure if he actually realised that. 

“Ya might as well could have.” He struggled with his words and the fire around his fingers seemed to calm down as well over the next moments. Drifter looked almost defeated and it was more than unusual for him to be this open. It was more worth than any words they could ever exchange. 

In the background, she could hear Daisuke playing still Drifter’s voicelines to keep Gambit busy. A couple of times he failed and announced the wrong locations for enemy spawn and it made her almost smile, if this situation wouldn’t be so serious. 

She wouldn’t say she was sorry, because she wasn’t. Shin had to be dealt with, but she didn’t like hurting him or causing distress, especially with how things went with former people in his life. And she totally didn’t think about that floating freak that came visiting occasionally. “Drifter..” Nevia reached out and despite everything she cupped his cheek into her hand, thumb brushing through his beard. “I’m not Orin. I’m not just gonna leave you.” The ‘You don’t have to be afraid.’ stayed unsaid. 

His formerly bitter expression softened and he closed his eyes for a short second, before returning his attention to her. “I know..” 

They both knew it had to be done and they were also aware that maybe, just maybe, they could breathe freely again without watching their back over every single step they did. Their argument seemed to be settled the moment, Nevia slipped her arms around his neck and even with their armor in the way, she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and pressed her body against his in a tight embrace. 

Her fingers found their way into his hair, gently brushing through the black coloured mess. Slowly she felt him relax into her arms and Nevia pressed her lips to his scarred cheek, nuzzling his beard. And Drifter? He just held onto her for as long as she would let him. She wanted to tell him, that everything would be alright, but the words refused to come out. 

The soft and quiet moment was only interrupted by Daisuke hovering by Drifter’s side, just looking at him and waiting patiently. He was instantly annoyed by the Ghost’s presence, but gave him his attention anyway. A silent conversation seemed to be going on between them and eventually Drifter pulled an annoyed face, just for a second though, since he then leaned down and kissed Nevia on the lips. “Gambit’s waiting for no one. Not even me. Don’t run too far.” 

It was his sign to leave and she smiled at his words. He said them before after one of the first nights she had spent on the Derelict. She let him go and stepped aside, following behind him as he made his way to the back of the ship and stepping onto his little platform. Nevia climbed up in her hideout and watched the Guardians get ready to storm the field. She didn’t miss the short look Drifter shot into her direction and she returned it with a smile. 

~~~

Eventually Nevia had left her spot and went back into the living space of the Derelict, making herself a cup of coffee after a change of clothes into something more comfortable. Top and sweatpants, staying on her bare feet. She was watching the surroundings around them, while the Derelict was hovering over the Emerald Coast. She had good memories here. Aside from being her favorite location for Gambit matches, there also had been some more private moments, that made her smile. Thinking about how Drifter hit his head on the back shooting back up from the ground, while they were having sex. 

While lost in her thoughts and memories, quietly sipping her coffee, she didn’t hear the door on the other side of the room, nor the footsteps approaching her. Only when two all too familiar arms wrapped around her middle, she got pulled back to the real world. “Would you like to dance?” Drifter’s voice sent a shiver down her spine, but his usual pickup line made her laugh quietly. But she decided to indulge him.

“What?”, Nevia asked, played innocent. 

“Hmm? What do you think I just said?” There was almost a chuckle in his voice, knowing full well that she was just playing along.

“Would you like to dance?”

“Oh, I’d love to.” 

He took the coffee mug out of her hands and placed it on the console in front of them. She turned around and looked at him, finding him examining her with a slight frown on his forehead, the smirk gone. Nevia slipped her arms around his neck, giving him a questioning look, wondering what was going on in his mind. 

“You smell differently.”, was all he said and it caused her to let out a surprised snort. 

“I do what now?” 

“I dunno.. Like a storm? Did you change your body gel?” 

But instead of answering, Nevia lifted her left hand and held it out a bit away from them. She carefully summoned her light, which somehow now felt a lot more natural. Instead of the warming flames of Solar, lightning sparked around her fingertips. Drifter observed in silence, though as she expected he didn’t question it. He knew she was an Arcstrider before taking upon the Solar powers unwillingly. 

Nevia pressed her finger to his collarbone in a playful manner, zapping him lightly against his shirt. A low rumble came from his throat. Did he like that? A smirk full of mischief built on her lips. She used the hold her other arm had on his neck and jumped into his arms. The surprise made him stumble backwards with a laugh and even though he caught his balance, he moved further back until his knees reached the armrest of the old couch. He dropped backwards, holding onto Nevia as they crashed down onto it. “So, what was that about dancing?”

“Heh, wait and see.” 

They undressed each other in a hurry, their touches almost desperate. Electricity always dancing around her edges, while she tried to get her reestablished Arc powers back under control from excitement. More than once she zapped Drifter on his bare skin, causing them both to laugh, before returning to their former activity. Nevia’s fingernails drew red, angry lines over his chest, followed by him sitting up and marking her neck and shoulders with bite marks. 

He held her close in his arms, while they moved together. The sun was already setting, when they both found their release only a few moments apart from each other. Still resting on the old couch afterwards, Drifter absentmindedly drew circles on Nevia’s bare skin, while she was dozing directly on top of him. She felt absolutely content right now, safe and a little bit more like herself every moment. It made her thoughts wander slightly..

“I’m going to abandon Thorn.. I think.”, she mumbled against his chest, eyes still closed. Drifter made a questioning noise and opens one eye, looking down at her. 

“You wanna?” 

“Yeah.. I think.. I don’t know. Maybe it’s time.” 

“Would be the first one that is able to abandon that blasted gun, little Dredgen.. Whatever works for you.” When he didn’t got an answer from her, he noticed she was already asleep, softling breathing against his skin and Drifter decided to follow suit, though still worries on his mind. 

In her dreams, Nevia found herself in the same empty room, she had been to before. The floor, the area around her was nothing but the deep blue nothingness and countless of stars. She looked around but failed to find the giant freak waiting for her this time. An uneasy feeling invaded her heart like an invisible presence looming over her. Her gaze fell to the right and she made a surprising discovery. 

Drifter was standing next to her, looking as concerned and confused. When their eyes met, his went wide for a second. They didn’t get the chance to question things, because out of thin air the Emissary presented herself, hovering a bit away from them. Face emotionless and blank. He instantly got defensive, hands clenched to fists. 

“What do you want from us, Psycho?! Don’tcha have anythin’ better to do?”, he snapped at her. Nevia for once decided to stay silent, always stunned when being forced into this weird realm. 

“You’ve seen the end, Dredgen. We’re here to bid our farewell. We taught you and the huntress all that was to be learned to step into action. Our attention is required elsewhere.” As always her mouth was unmoving and her eyes just stared ahead without moving.

“Great. Means we’re free of ya? That’s good news.” 

Nevia slowly moved to his side and put a hand on his arm, wanting him to calm down. Neither of them was alone in this right now. She was grateful for it. “Why bother and drag us here? Why not go and bother someone else?” 

“We have one last thing to show you.” 

Before she could say anything, an image exploded in front of her eyes. The whole City was on fire, much like during the Red War, screams echoed over the whole area and on the sky? There hovered pitch black, triangle like forms. Phantoms hunted through the streets, consuming the civilians. 

The picture shifted to Nessus, where the constructs of the Vex were collapsing and causing giant cave ins on the planet, destabilizing it. The Leviathan in the background was breaking apart. The angry ocean on Titan consumed the remaining marks of human civilization. On Io the Pyramidion was turned into rubble. The destruction spread through all of the system and nothing was left standing. But as soon as the vision started it ended and she found herself back in the endless nothing, right next to Drifter. 

He was just glaring at the Emissary. 

This probably was what they made him see over all this time. So far Nevia’s visions always surrounded her personal life, failures and grief. Only now she realised what kind of burden Drifter had been carrying all this time. 

“Farewell.” The Emissary spoke her final word and vanished from view, though they still were stuck in this empty hell. A soft noise above their heads made them look up and her eyes saw something falling down and apparently so did Drifter. He held out his right hand and caught it with ease. Opening his fist, worried lines showed up on his forehead and Nevia felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

The small object was one of Drifter’s famous jade coins, but none of those he actually owned. The engraving showed one of the triangle ships, they had just seen in their vision. This was bad. Really, really bad. He turned his gaze towards her. None of them fancied seeing the system burn and watch everyone they know die. Nevia reached for his left hand and they intertwined their fingers.

It was time to leave.


End file.
